Playing Spider Games
by ShuffleCat
Summary: The avengers have regrouped after Berlin, and are back in the tower. Peter is also in the tower, though does not seem to keen on meeting the others.
1. Chapter 1 - Hide and Seek

**Chapter 1**

 **Hide and Seek**

"Hey kid, you in here?" Tony called out into the large rectangular room, Clint and Steve behind him.

"Where else could he be? We've searched every crevice of this place, this is the only room left." Clint said from behind Tony.

The three men looked into the the room; it was roughly the size of a football field, and had tall walls, with rows of lights evenly spaced out, from the floor to ceiling of the room. The top few rooms were out, leaving the top of the room black.

"Friday, turn the ceiling lights on, it's black as all hell up there." Tony called out.

"I apologise sir, I am unable to turn the lights on." The AI's female vocie called back through the speakers.

"Unable to or won't?" Tony asked.

"I apologise sir, I was asked to keep them off."

"I am not able to say."

"Not able to or asked not to?"

Friday did not respond, which answered Tony's question; dammit.

"Why the hell is my computer listening to a teenager over me? Good god, this is not what was meant to happen." Tony huffed to himself as he walked into the room, the others following behind him. The four of them stood in the centre of the room, looking up at the ceiling. Four? Ah, Clint noticed, Bucky had joined them.

"What are you three doing? You've been walking around all day, looking inside vents and cupboards. Lost something."

"Fumigating."

"Tony!" Came from Steve and Clint.

"Insect problem, you see." Tony continued, and Bucky nodded.

"Ah."

"Arachnid." Came from Friday.

"Huh?" Tony looked to the ceiling,as if Friday was there. She was; kinda.

"I was asked to correct you sir, the correct term is arachnid."

"Friday, why do I feel like you like the kid more than me?" Tony asked, exasperated by the situation.

"Mister Parker is lovely to chat to, and does not make fun of my selection of music. Nor does he insult me when frustrated." Friday explained.

"Stupid computers." Tony muttered.

"That's exactly what I'm talking about." Friday quipped. Bucky and Clint laughed, and Steve looked at Tony.

"So you replaced Jarvis with a new comput- AI, that is even sassier?" Steve asked, an eyebrow raised. He was trying not to smirk, though he didn't know how well he was doing.

"Kid come down! Bloody shit kid, Clint you climb up and get him!" Tony looked at Clint while gesturing to the dark ceiling with an open hand.

"Me?!"

"Sir, I have been asked to pass on another message."

"Go ahead Friday." Tony said, sighing.

"Language."

"Is that the entire message?"

'Yes sir."

Tony sighed again, louder, and Steve shook his head.

"Why don't we throw something up there?" Clint asked.

"Why?" Came three voices.

"If he is up there, it might knock him down, or he'll catch it and throw it back, and confirm he's there." Clint explained as if it was so simple. "Only question is what do we throw, and who throws it."

"What do you mean who? We've got a bloody super solider." Tony said.

"We've got two super soliders, and one of them has a metal arm." Clint said, looking at Tony. Tony was quiet for a second before groaning.

"Find something to throw, and one of you bloody throw it then!" Clint left, and came back with Steve's shield. Tony laughed, a little too hard, and Steve and Bucky shook their heads.

"Last chance kid, come down!"

"Another message sir."

"Go ahead Friday." Came Tony and Steve.

" And get crushed by an extra large apple pie? I'm good."

"What?" Came from Bucky, Tony and Steve.

"What's more american than an apple pie?" Clint said with a smirk, looking at Steve. Steve nodded. _Ah._

"So, why are you looking at the ceiling? Is he up there?" Bucky asked.

"Yes." Said Tony.

"Maybe." Said Steve.

Bucky shook his head, and glared at Clint as he held the shield out to him. He moved to the front of the group and glanced around the ceiling.

"Where exactly am I throwing it?" He asked, and Tony and Clint deflated. Oh, yeah. Bucky passed the shield to Steve, who steadied himelf before throwing it in a wide circle, shooting in two darkened corners before flying back to his hands. He steadied himself again, and repeatedthe movement with the other two corners. They waited, and waited, and realised the shield wasn't returning to them. Steve and Tony stood with their hands on their hips, Clint had crossed his arms over his chest and Bucky ran his hands through his hair, a wide grin on his face.

"So, he caught it again, did he?" Bucky asked, looking over at Tony and Steve. "It would have been going fast, is the kid strong enough to grab it? The force of catching it should've knocked him down."

"Correct Agent Barnes; Peter's enhanced DNA allows him considerable strength. This is why he was able to survive the building which collapsed over him. This would have easily killed a non enhanced individuals."Friday explained.

"What?!" The three men who weren't tony shouted, Steve the loudest. The super soldier rubbed his face with his hands, and looked at Tony in disbelief.

"A _building_ collapsed on him?!" Steve asked, not sure he had heard correctly.

"Um well, I suppose technically, yes it did." Tony was not looking at Steve.

"You let a building collapse on a teenager?" Steve asked, staring at Tony still, he shook his head and looked up at the corners where the shield had disappeared into the darkness.

"Friday, lights!" Tony shouted again. This time Friday responded by flicking the lights of the ceiling on, filling the darkness with a bright white light. In one of the corners was the shield, held by a coating of the web that held it to the wall, next to a vent grate.

Tony glanced over at Clint without turning his head.

"Clint. Why didn't you mention the vents in this room?" He asked.

"I'm not allowed in the vents here! Friday doesn't let me, says you have scurity things in place because it's a training room!" Clint defended himself.

"Security? What security Friday?" Tony asked, with no response from the AI. "Huh." The men left the room, bickering on the way to the main living floor of the tower. They entered the large living area, and found Natasha sprawled out on a couch reading a book. She didn't look at the men; she simply grabbed a book from the coffee table next to her and threw it at them. Steve was the one who caught it.

"Six Verse Eight: A Guide to Insects and Arachnids." He read outloud; Bucky barked out a laugh and patted Steve on the back. Natasha looked up at the laugh, an eyebrow raised.

"What's so funny Barnes?" She asked, book still open in her lap, ready to continue reading.

"Spider kid is frightened of our extra large apple pie here." Bucky said, clapping Steve on the back ahrder, and jumping away as Steve moved to strike his arm.

"Apple pie?" She asked.

"Yeah, what's more american?" Clint said, smirking at Steve, also jumping away from him. Steve shook his head and sat in an armchair across from Natasha, who had returned to her book.

"Little spider has gotten into Clint's bad habits; he dropped out of a vent ten minutes ago before leaving to see his friend." She said, not looking up, and was startled by the shouts of "Ten minutes ago?!" from the Tony, Steve and Clint. Bucky just laughed again.

"Maybe eleven, I wasn't paying that much attention to the little spider." She said, looking up at them again. "Why, are you looking for him? Is he in trouble?"

Clint leaned on the back of the couch Natasha was on, arms retsing on the back of the plush piece of furntiure.

"Aww, worried about your fellow spider Nat?" Clint teased, dodging the book she threw at him.

"No. I am curious as to why you want to know where he is. I was only made aware he was here when he fell out of the ceiling."

"He's playing hide and fucking seek with us." Tony said, as he poured himself a glass of water from a jug in the fridge, and rested his arms against the kitchen island.

"Spiders have a natural tendency to hide when threatened or injured." Friday said over the speakers.

"I have no idea if that's true or not." Tony groaned, taking a sip of his water.

"So you are not playing hide and seek then?" Natasha asked, her lips forming into a small grin.

"No! He's hiding from our bloody mascot over here." Tony waved a hand at Steve, who shot him a nasty glare, though his heart wasn't in it.

"I see… why is that?"

"You know, we're not very sure. I'm curious as to how he was getting Friday to pass messags to us if he wasn't in the room."

"Mister Parker was communicating with me via his phone. I may have some insight as to why he is avoiding Captain Rogers." Friday said.

"Please tell." Tony said with a roll of his eyes.

"Mister Parker is of the age where most have personal icons, or 'heroes' as many call them. He is likely concerned due to being present in the fight a the airport."

"What age is that exactly Friday?" Steve asked; Tony had been avoiding giving them an exact number. Tony spluttered on his water, and was unable to stop Friday.

"Mister Parker turned sixteen two weeks ago, on a Thursday." Friday answered.

"He's sixteen?" Everyone shouted.

"Why are you surprised? You knew!" Steve shouted. He couldn't believe just how young the kid was.

"He didn't tell me about his birthday!"Tony said back, obviously a little upset.

"He… was fifteen in Berlin?" Bucky asked.

"I…well, yes." Tony couldn't really deny it now.

"Wait, how did he get super soldier serum?" Bucky asked, becoming more confused.

"He didn'-"

"Well he certainly did, if he was able to hit hard enough to leave bruises on us." Bucky motioned to himself and Steve. Tony looked from Bucky to Steve, eyes wide. Steve nodded.

"He… it wasn't serum exactly. Hell I don't know what it was, besides how it happened. He got bit by some…spider, that was radioactive in some capacity. Screwed his DNA royally, but somehow he didn't die from that."

"Have you ever tested his strength?" Natasha asked, sitting up properly on the couch now. Tony looked over at her with an odd expression; almost anger.

"No." Tony spat, without meaning to. She didn't say anything, just kept her eyes on him as he finished his glass of water, keeping his eyes on the counter top.

"He… he likes me, enough, but there's a wall there, definitely. What if I ask him to do tests? He'll worry, he always does. He'll think I'm only keeping him here for tests, because of his powers; yes, I only found him because he's spiderman but, shit if the kid isn't a fuckin' genius." Tony looked up and rubbed his face with his hands. He hadn't really wanted to voice his worries, not about the kid.

"You want to though." Bucky said, sitting in the chair next to Steve.

"Good god do I!" Tony exploded, his hands slamming against the kitchen countertop. "He's stupidly strong, has a healing factor that rivals the two of you – when he actually eats – and he can stick to stuff! Oh and his spider senses!"

"Spider senses?" Bucky asked.

"It's what Clint was talking about with the shield. That kid could be across a field, and if you threw it at him completely unaware, with no warning, he would be able to to grab it out of midair and throw it back to you without even turning around." Tony was smiling now; almost grinning.

"He seemed shocked we were here." Steve said.

"His aunt is away, and he's on holidays from school, so I said sure to him staying here, completely forgetting you guys had completed the mission early and were due to arrive. I had no time to tell him you guys were here; and when I realised, I figured he'd just be excited to meet the _Avengers,_ properly anyway."

"Instead, he's terrified Steve is gonna squish him like an insect, and his now hiding from us?" Bucky asked.

"Arachnid." Natasha said, confused by the nasty looks she got from the others at her word.

"He's probably worried about you as well." Clint said to Bucky, who looked confused.

"You're Steve's friend, you're also a super soldier, and you have a metal arm that he _grabbed mid-fight."_ Clint explained. "He's probbaly worried you're both gonna pummel him."

"He's already got someone doing that, you two aren't allowed." Tony said. Steve and Bucky went to defend themselves, but stopped.

"What do you mean?" Steve asked.

"Some little shit at his school is using him as a bloody punching bag. I've tried mentioning it, it's hard not to when he's bruised to shit after a day of school."

"He brought down someone who was trying to steal Stark weapons, from a secret plane, while it was flying; and he lets himself get beat?" Clint asked, staring at Tony, who raised his hands in front of himself.

"Teenagers, dude." Tony said, Clint nodded and the group fell into silence.


	2. Chapter 2 - It's Important To Stretch

**Chapter 2**

 **It's Important To Stretch**

It was two days after the training room fiasco. Everyone minus Peter had made their way to the kitchen, and had begun to make their breakfasts. Steve was in charge of making scrambled eggs for everyone, as well as some bacon and toast, tony was busy prepping everyone prefered drink, a number of coffees, and a glass of apple juice for Bruce. He set the drinks at everyone's seat around the dining table just as Steve finished plating up meals. Natasha looked up from her seat and thanked Tony for the coffee, when she noticed something just out of corner of her eyes; something red. A red arm reached down from the ceiling as Steve opened the fridge to put away the milk, and before the door could shut behind Steve, the hand grabbed a bottle of water and a pre-wrapped sandwich. Natasha raised an eyebrow as the hand came down again, on the other side of the kitchen, and slowly opened a cabinet above Tony's head, as he was making his own coffee; the hand pulled out a museli bar before quietly shutting the door and pulling back up towards the ceiling. Natasha opened her mouth but closed it again as Tony made his way to the table and sat at his seat as Steve placed his plate of food down.

Tony gave a quick thanks before beginning to eat; he had been on his way to the lab before Steve caught him, and all but dragged Tony to the kitchen so he would actually eat some breakfast. Tony was not pleased, but did enjoy Steve's cooking; though he wouldn't admit it. It was alright, Steve knew.

"So, have you tracked down the little spider?" Natasha asked, eyes on her plate as she picked up some food on her fork.

"Nope!" Tony said, leaning back in his seat, coffee in hand. "How I lost him I'll never know, I suspect Friday has something to do with it."

"You know he isn't yours to lose, he does have an Aunt he has to go back to some day." Clint said.

"I know – she's terrifying, I've been trying not to think about it."

Natasha shook her head. Unbelievable.

"You see it too?' Bucky leaned over and asked her in a whisper when Tony wasn't looking, she nodded, and Bucky smirked before returning to his seat, and his breakfast.

"Anyone else coming for a run this morning?" Steve asked, as he collected plates and took them to the sink. Tony, Clint and Bruce shook their heads. Bucky nodded and unexpectedly, so did Natasha. The three of them got ready after tidying up from breakfast, and after being shooed away from the dishes by Tony.

Steve and Bucky took the same route everytime they ran, so Natasha followed them, and was pleased to see that the super soldiers eased their pace so she could follow after them easily. It was early morning still, so the park wasn't crowded. It was a warm morning with little breeze, yet Natasha felt a sudden breeze against the side of her face, and again a few seconds later. She could not see that it was Peter, swinging alongside them, nor could they see him running above them from, moving from branch to branch. He went to Ned's to drop off some books, before giving his friend a cheerful farewell, and heading back to the Tower, the same way he had come. He dropped onto the path outside of the park, near the Tower, and managed to move to the side as Steve, Bucky and Natasha came back around the corner.

"Whoa!" Steve half shouted, pulling himself to a stop as Peter stepped to the side.

"You good kid?" He asked. "Sorry, didn't see you there."

Peter gave a small wave as he took a few steps back, smile wide on his face. "All good, sorry man." With that, he turned on the spot and continued his walk, heading down another path that wrapped around the back of the Tower. The three Avengers had no idea they had almost run over the young Spiderman.

Natasha shook her head and smiled at Steve. "Trampling the young public won't win you any hearts."

Steve shook his head and returned the smile; the three of them returned to the tower to shower and change, and were soon in their usual areas; Natasha was reading on the couch, Steve was busy in the training room, and Bucky was going over some meditation guides he had been given by Bruce. Peter was in the vents that ran alongside the training room, sitting at the grate that looked into the large room, working on some summer homework. It was reading, and some basic questions, nothing crazy.

"Good Morning Captain Rogers, I have been asked to fetch you for lunch."

"I didn't realise it was still morning, thanks Friday." Steve said, putting down his shield and grabbing a towel from the floor.

"Yes sir, it is four minutes til midday."

Steve headed upstairs to find the others in the kitchen, sitting down at the table and unpacking their orders from the asian takeaway Tony had called into on his way home from a meeting.

"This kid's fucking with me now, I swear." Tony said, holding a red post-it note in his hand.

"Why?" Natasha asked, then corrected herself. "Why, this time?"

"I asked him to leave me a note of what he wanted for dinner and dessert tonight, to make up for missing his birthday dinner." He passed the note to Clint, who snorted, before reading it.

"Pizza for dinner, dessert can be anything; no apple pie." He read out, laughing as he passed the paper back to Tony.

"He draws little spiders instead of hugs or kisses, I love it." Clint smirked, and caught Tony smirking as well when Clint said it.

"I don't even know if he's actually scared of the might of Captain America, or if he's just being a pain in the ass on purpose now."

"He's sixteen, it's probably both." Clint said before tucking into his lunch.

"Shouldn't he be here?" Bruce asked.

"He should, he is trying his hardest not to be a part of the group though." Tony said.

"No, well yes but I mean, if he is anything like Steve and Bucky, his metabalism must be off the charts, he needs food." Bruce seemed concerned.

"I know, I even ordered him his favourite meal pack, that he won't let me buy him as it's too expensive. 'Too expensive' doesn't exist in my world, so he needs to accept the damn food I buy him."

"How many meals did you get?" Bucky asked.

"Uhhh, There was us, I dropped some off at the Shield office as a favour, so I think I came home with seven boxes?"

"Well I came in after you arrived, maybe a few minutes later when you were getting your coffee together, and there were six boxes on the bench." Natasha said, and everyone turned to look at the empty boxes on the bench. Six.

"How the hell did he get it?!" Tony asked as he stood up and checked the order names on the boxes; Peter's wasn't there. "It's like I live with a magician!"

Natasha and Bucky let out amused laughs, and Steve just looked glum.

"Aww Cap, what's up? Why the face?" Clint asked, but was ignored by Steve, who stood up from the table and left the room. Bucky moved to follow Steve but stopped to look at Tony, who hesitated before nodding once. Bucky nodded in return before following his friend. Bucky and Tony had been living together in the tower for awhile now, but the two were still awkward around one another; most of it was on Bucky's side, he did not want to be imposing in someone else's home, despite how many times Tony had said it was Bucky's home as well. Bucky found it difficult to believe.

"Steve?" Bucky found Steve in his room, sitting on the edge of the large bed, staring at the floor between his knees. He sat next to Steve but didn't say anything, he would let Steve talk when he was ready.

"Is it what everyone thinks about me?" Steve asked finally.

"What?"

"That I'd…hurt them?"

Bucky was silent. He hadn't expected the question, though it didn't surprise him. He thought, hard, about what to say. He wasn't sure he was the best person; he was fairly sure it's what people thought about him.

"God, Buck, I don't know what to do."

"Steve, relax." Bucky finally said, not knowing where he was going with his words. "He's… a kid? A teenager, I suppose, yes. Maybe it is like the computer lady said, he's nervous you'll be mad at him. He did bruise us. Though… does he know that?" Steve looked up at Bucky's question.

"I… I don't know, actually. I don't know if he's spoken to Tony about Berlin."

"Would we have, back when we were teenagers? I mean, talk to an adult about a problem."

"I mean, I probably would've somehow started a fight with someone while we tried to discuss it." Steve said, smirking at the ground.

"Probably because they stapled some pages together wrong during the meeting." That made Steve laugh, and Bucky was glad to hear it. The two of them headed back to the main room, where the rest of the group had tidied up after lunch. The rest of the day continued on as normal, as did the next day. Steve and Bucky went for a run the day after that; Saturday morning. It was close to 5am when the pair headed out and quickly settled into their pace, faster than most people. It was Bucky who noticed the empty football field – which sat in the park behind Stark Tower, he was almost certain Tony owned it to stop anyone building there – and the young boy who was crouched on top of a light pole. Steve ran into Bucky when the man came to an abrupt stop on the pathway.

"Bucky!" Steve said, and was immediately hushed by his friend, who pointed at the boy. His hair was a light brown, and sat in very loose curls, a style that was shaggier than it was curly, stopping just past his ears. The two men stood still after moving a little further onto the grass so they could see him properly.

"Oh my go- that's the kid!" Steve whispered to Bucky, eyes wide.

"What kid?"

"The one I nearly trampled."

"Oh, so why the hell is he up the-"

Bucky's question was answered before he even finished it, when the boy pushed himself further down into a crouch, before quickly springing up and flipping backwards off of the pole. His hand extended forward as he fell, and a thin line of white shot out and struck, and seemed to have no issue holding tight to the top of the pole, allowing him to swing to the top of the next pole. This continued, with the boy moving bewteen the two poles in this fashion. Steve adjusted his foot, and felt a twig snap beneath his shoe. His ears picked up the soft sound, and he was shocked when the boy stopped what he was doing, and stood up straight on the pole, looking in the direction of Steve and Bucky. The men quickly ducked out of the way, and ran at their super solider speed back to the Tower.

"Natasha!" Steve shouted as she burst from the elevator on the main floor, and found Natasha, Bruce, Tony and Clint in the living room, a board game on the floor in the middle of the couches. Bucky stopped behind Steve, both men panting to air.

"Um, welcome? You guys up for a game o-" Tony tried.

"It's him! The kid!" Bucky shouted. Tony eyebrows almost flew off his face.

"The kid I nearly trampled- I- We – I can't breathe." Steve bent over and rested his hands against his knees.

"You nearly trampled him?! That sounds like squishing to me!" Tony was getting ready to get up, but saw the look on Bucky's face. There was no threat, just a plea; _don't._ Tony made his body relax, and settled back into the floor he had been sitting on.

"We didn't think about his hearing!" Steve spluttered finally. "He heard us, when we were watching him."

"Watching him?" Tony asked.

"He was, flipping around, doing backflips off of a lamp post! I – I met him, in the park, he just came out of nowhere at the end of the path. I apologised, he just left, he didn't seem bothered at all."

"Huh." Was all Tony had.

"Was he in his suit?" Someone said, Tony had sort of zoned out, just for a moment.

"No he was just there, open to the world. It was in the big football field, that I'm 80% sure Stark owns." Bucky said. Tony coughed.

"I, yes I do, I wanted some space between the building and the public. Friday's system is implemented in the fencing, making it hard for the public to see, in case you lot wanted a game of super solider football. I was looking at changing it to a baseball field, recently."

Bucky felt his chest tighten; had Tony actually been thinking that? Bucky and Steve shared a love for baseball, it was one of the few things Bucky had been able to get back into after joining the team. He wasn't sure how to feel. By the look on Tony's face, either did he. The two soldiers found seats on the couches, having recovered from their sprint. Clint was the one that started it, he chuckled, then fell into a bout of laughter, which spread to Natasha and Bruce.

"What?" Bucky asked, looking at the group of laughing Avengers. Steve and Tony also looked confused.

"He's sixteen! You're terrified of him! It's like Loki himself crawled out of the ground in front o f you!" Clint said, between his laughs.

"Friends that is not possible, my dear brother sits in prison. Ah, soldier friends! Welcome!" Thor greeted them, coming into the oom with a rather large bowl of caramel popcorn. "What has you so frightened? Has a new threat found us?"

"Yes Thor!" Clint sat up straight, face suddenly deadly serious. "Top secret, come here. Shield's only just contacted us." Thor looked nervous, and sat on the floor next to his friend Clint. Clint leaned over and loudly whispered.

"A teenager." Before falling into more laughter, setting of Bruce and Natasha again.

"Guys!" Steve shouted, lost as to what to do.

"Why was he practicing in the open?" Bucky asked, looking at Tony.

"I've asked Friday to cover, or maybe camaflague works beter? Anyway, I've asked her to make sure no one can see Peter when he's out spidering it up, he likes to practice, and it means he might burn off half an ounce of his never ending energy."

"How often does he go out?" Natasha asked, wiping tears from her eyes.

"I'm actually surprised no one has seen him yet, he's out there most days, even if it's only for a little bit to stretch."

"So he either goes out stupidly early, or stupidly late." Clint said, leaning against the couch that was behind him.

"Is he an early bird, or a night owl?" Bruce asked, finally joining the conversation.

"I am confused." Thor said suddenly, everyone turning to look at him. "I was under the impression he was an insectoid."

"Arachnid!" Clint, Natasha and Bruce shouted, falling back into giggles.

 _ **Oscar7010 – Thank you for the review! I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter! The story is only a little bit of fun, not sure where it will go, or how long it will be! Hopefully this chapter is as error free as the last!**_


	3. Chapter 3 - A Helping Hand

**Chapter 3**

 **A Helping Hand**

"You said you'd ask him!"

"I say a lot of things! I haven't seen the kid long enough to ask." Tony defended himslef against Bruce; they were in the lab, arguing, sort of. They were smiling a lot for an argument.

"Tony…"

"I didn't lose him!" This time, Tony was right. "He's had his friends hous for a few nights, he hasn't seen his friend much and they've still got like two months of holidays. He's gonna go mad if he doesn't see his friends." Tony smiled, shaking his head, and turned back to the project on the table in front of him.

"How did he make this stuff?" Bruce asked, a hint of amazement to his soft voice.

"In his high school chemistry lab." Tony answered without looking up.

Bruce had managed to get a sample of Peter's webbing before it dissolved, and had been intently studying it since the night before.

"A- a chemistry lab?" Bruce looked at Tony, eyes wide. Tony glanced up and smirked at the scientists face, then looked back at his own work. "Tony he- how smart is this kid? If he made this what is he gonna make here?"

"I'd tell you if I knew, but he has to stand still long enough to tell me first. I've explained to him he's welcome to the lab if we're in here. Mostly because I suspect I'll come back in to find everything upgraded if I don't supervise him, and I don't feel like being outdone by a sixteen year old." Bruce laughed at Tony, and the two of them continued to work, heading to bed close to midnight.

Bucky and Steve had planned to wake up at around 11:30 that night, and at almost to midnight, the two of them made their way to the side of the football field. It was a peasantly warm night, and even Bucky was comfortable with the odd cool breeze that found them as they waited. The two men crouched in the heavy brush that ran down one side of the field; keeping themselves hidden in the bushes and trees. Friday had promised not to alert Peter of their presence; though they could tell she wasn't happy about it. It wasn't until one in the morning that the lights around the field brightened, and Peter made his way to onto the field.

"Morning Friday." He called out, his voice stirring Bucky and Steve from their half sleep.

"Good Morning Mr Parker, how are you this morning?" Friday said back; through the speakers around the field. Peter smiled and put a gym bag on the ground near a light post.

"it's Peter, Friday. I'm good, went and saw Ned during the day, he really liked those books Mr Stark found for him." Peter pulled off the sweater he was wearing, showing the black singlet he was wearing underneath.

"Oh, damn." Bucky whispered, taking in the definition of muscles in Peter's arms. Steve adjusted himself to see Peter properly, and understood what Bucky meant.

"How's he so scrawny?" Bucky muttered to Steve. They weren't sure just how good his hearing was.

"Tony is always worrying about him not eating, he's probably eating enough for a teenager; not a super soldier." Steve whispered back.

"This is good to hear Peter, Boss was worried aout whether or not the books would be a good choice for Ned." Friday replied to Peter. "Boss has also requested I correct you anytime you call him Mr Stark; he has insisted you call him Tony."

Peter shook his head and pulled off his sneakers, throwing them into the grass, followed by his socks.

"Oh my god, no way." Bucky whispered, grinning when Peter turned away from them. 'Look at his shirt."

Steve's eyes found the shirt, and he had to stifle a laugh; the back of Peter's black singlet was decorated with a large icon; Hawkeye's symbol.

"We _have_ to tell Clint." Steve said, smiling at the kid. Clint would love it. They watched Peter as he ran slow laps around the field, headphones over his ears, oblivious to the world. They watched, and waited, but all he did was run laps. Eventually he stopped and pulled his socks and shoes back on, then his sweater and left the field.

"Well, that was incredibly boring." Bucky groaned as they elevator made it's way up, to the main floor.

"He was so…" Steve couldn't find the word.

"Slow?"

"I guess?"

The elevator doors opened, and the men made their ways to their own rooms. Bucky's was across the hall from Steve, which he appreciated. It was only an hour later, that Bucky awoke from a nightmare, and sat up straight in his bed. His chest heaved with heavy breaths as he struggled to calm himself. With shaking legs, Bucky made his way to the kitchen and got himself a glass of water. They always kept a jug of water on the bench for him; the cold water from the fridge seemed to be a trigger. He could do room temperature, normally. Tonight however, he couldn't seem to hold the glass, and it fell onto the tiled floor of the kitchen, and shattered.

Bucky stared down at the pile of glass, and felt his chest heave, and he sank to the ground and buried his face in his knees. He didn't cry; no, crying didn't seem to be a function this body had. Not emotional crying, at least; as a response to pain, it could. Bucky forced himself to remember the breathing exercises Bruce had given him. He could do it. He would relax, then clean up the glass, and go back to bed. He felt his body relax, and his eyes drooped shut. A quick rest, then he'd clean.

Bucky awoke as sun streamed over his eyes, and he sat up awake, realising it must be morning. He looked down and realised, he was in his room. He curses under his breath and ran to the kitchen, to find that the glass on the floor was gone.

"Morning Tin Man." He heard Tony, and turned to face the man. "You alright?"

Bucky's mind was racing but, he did his best not to show it.

"Yeah, not a great sleep but, Bruce's breathing tricks helped." Bucky said with a nod, as he made his way to the dining table and sat in his seat.

"I'll let him know, it's good they're helping." Tony made a coffee for the both of them, and sat in his own seat, setting a coffee in front of Bucky. Not too hot, not too cold and not too bitter.

Bucky wrapped his hands around the ceramic cup and drank carefully, keeping his thoughts on how to use his hands.

"How was the kid last night?" Tony asked, looking at Bucky over the edge of his coffee cup as he took a sip. "You asked Friday not to tell Peter; I'm not Peter."

Bucky laughed, and set the cup down in front of him. "He was boring, he did laps for like an hour."

"You guys go for an almost two hour run some mornings."

'This was… different. His rythym didn't falter, it was the same speed the entire time, from start to finish. He did get told off by Friday for calling you Mr Stark though." Tny could have sworn Bucky smirked.

"Friday told me, bloody kids." The two men fell into silence, but when the other Avengers joined them and began the breakfast ritual, Bucky slammed a hand into the table. His empty cup wobbled in front of him, Tony looked like he was about to have a heart attack.

"His shirt!" Bucky shouted, and the others looked at him. Steve started laughing as he stirredthe eggs in the pan.

"He was wearing an avengers shirt." Steve said smiling over at Bucky. "Well, a shirt of an avenger anyway."

Tony raised an eyebrow; the kid wouldn't. Would he.

"I didn't realise how much he liked Clint." Bucky said, smirking at the Archer, who was gobsmacked

"Me?" Clint croaked out.

"Him?!" Tony was shocked, and maybe appalled.

"Yep! I didn't even know you could buy Hawkeye gear. Maybe he had it custom made?" Bucky rubbed his chin in fake thought, and dodged the plastic spatula the Steve threw at him.

"Now you're just being mean." Steve said with a grin. Bucky smiled back, and noticed Natasha glancing at the ceiling. Breakfast continued on as normal, ncluding a red hand getting breakfast without being seen by anyone except for Natasha, and the team dispersed into their areas of the Tower. Tony and Bruce were on their way to the lab, when Friday spoke to them.

"Good Morning Doctor Banner and Boss." She waited for them to greet her in return before continuing. "Mr Parker is waiting for you in the lab."

The two men practically fell over each other.

"Mr Parker has heard you discuss wanting to run some tests, and has decided he is happy to do a few basic speed and reaction tests, though he would like for only Doctor Banner to be present. He has not asked me to relay this message; I have heard him talking to himself. He is trying to decide if he should ask for this or not. He is worried about hurting feelings."

Tony clapped Bruce on his shoulders with both hands.

"Off you go; go get some data from this little shit." Tony laughed, and headed back the way they had come. _Finally._ He thought to himself, thinking of the data they would have.

"Friday." He called out.

"Yes Boss?"

"Send a message to Bruce's phone for me; ask him to mention Steve and Bucky by name and by their titles during the session, just in conversation. I want you to monitor his heart rate, see if he gets nervous at all."

"Yes Boss."

It was an hour later when Bruce ran into the kitchen, to find Steve and Bucky preparing an after run meal. Bruce looked at both plates that the men were holding, looking bewteen them, trying to decide which one to take. He ended up taking both.

"What!"

"Hey!"

Bruce ran off back down the hallway, a plate in each hand. Steve and Bucky stared after him with heavy looks of confusion on their faces.

"What just-" Tony had come into the room to make a coffee, in time to see the food theft.

"He just took our food!" Steve was stuck between annoyance and being very amused.

"I just got robbed by the Incredible Hulk." Bucky said, refusing to believe it had just happened.

"Friday?" Tony asked.

"Doctor Banner extends his apologises to you gentlemen. Peter's tests have gone well, but Doctor Banner has had suspicions that they are not to the best of Peter's abilities. He has made Peter eat both meals, as well as a number of protein bars he took from the gym."

"What!" Steve was shocked, again.

'It has also come to Doctor Banners attention that Peter makes a very conscious action of checking the doorway whenever Captain Rogers and Mister Barnes are mentioned. He has decided to cease mention of the names, as he does not wish to make young Mister Parker anymore nervous."

"Thanks Friday." Tony rubbed his face and set about making his coffee.

"Tony!" Steve's hands were on his his. Uh oh.

"Yes my lovely apple pie?"

"You're going to actually make that kid scared of us!"

"Correction my apple dumpling; he already is. I wanted to see if it has gotten any better."

"And?"

"It's gotten, well not a great deal better, but he's no longer about to collapse of a heart attack whenever you're mentioned."

"I apologise for the interruption gentlemen but Doctor Banner has requested I ask for Mr Stark to come to the lab; now."

"Duty calls my apple streudal, back soon!" Tony said with a wave before running off, before Steve could say anything. Tony found Bruce in the lab on his own, and the scientists eyes lit up as Tony walked in.

"Where di-"

"Tony!" Bruce stood up and gestured to a computer screen, which Tony turned his attention to. "This data is just… incredible. His strength is on par with Steve and Bucky, and I'm almost certain his healing factor has surpassed there's in the past. The difference in results after he ate is just… unbelievable! This is only basic strength tests, and some quick reaction time tests, if we can test his strength and reflexes properly one day it'd be even better." Bruce was rambling now, his words faster and faster as he spoke, falling over his own words. Tony looked at the information on the screen and had to agree; it was simply incredible.

'If we could somehow compare him with the others at the same time it would be the best way. I doubt we could get him to even stand near Steve, or Bucky, you should've seen the way his face changed if I mentioned them." Bruce shook his head, and brought up Friday's results on Peter's heartrate, as well as his breathing, when Bruce mentioned the two soldiers. Bruce collected up a number of papers and left the lab, eager to read over some journals he had seen in the past about the soldier serum, to see if there was any chance it was the cause of Peter's abilities.

Tony sat in Bruce's seat and spun a few times, in slow circles. He saw the screen flicker and change to a rcording from the kitchen's security feed.

"Friday?"

"Sir I meant to alert you previously, but the scans of Mister Parker were quite taxing on my power supplies. Young Mister Parker has interacted with Agent Barnes, though the Agent is unaware of the event." She finished, and the video fottage played. Tony watched Bucky stumble out from his room, and saw the super soldier drop the glass and slide to the floor, apparently in distress. A vent grate above the kitchen fell open and silently, Peter climbed out of the vent, dressed in the black singlet and a pair of shorts, and landed on the floor beside Bucky. He looked down at the floor and saw that his barefeet had landed in the broken glass. Peter shook his feet off before stepping closer to Bucky and leaning down. Tony watched as Peter silently picked Bucky up in his arms, and carried the soldier to his room before returning and cleaning up the glass and water on the floor, and leaving the room through the vent, which he closed after himself.

"Get barnes and Rogers, now." Tony said to Friday, as he rewinded the footage.

Fifteen minutes later, Bucky and Steve were standing behind Tony, having just watched the footage for themselves. The three men sat in silence, as they watched the footage a second time; each noticing different details.

Tony; he noticed how smoothly Peter was able to carry himself, and the motionless Bucky, as if the super soldier didn't weigh almost three times what Peter did.

Steve; he noticed how quickly Peter moved to Bucky, checking the man over before lifting him up. Had he not known the situation, he would have thought Peter and Bucky were close friends.

Bucky; he noticed the slight movements of the mask around the jaw and chin. The boy had spoken to him.

Bucky felt stiff, he didn't know what to do, but he had questions.

"What did the boy say? His mouth moved."

"Huh. Friday, can you find the audio for this video?"

"Apologies sir, the audio file was isolated. I shall find the separated audio for you.."

"Are you able to find the audio for this time slot, exactly?"

"One moment sir." There was a pause. "Located sir, playing now. The audio will be played in time with the video recording."

" _Friday!" Came peter's rushed whisper._

" _Yes Mister Parker?"_

" _What's happened to him?" The vent opened and there were sounds of fabric rubbing against fabric, as he made his way out of the vent and gently dropped onto the ground. There was a background noise of glass crunching beneath Peter's bare feet._

" _There was a sudden temperature drop in the Tower due to an approaching storm, I believe the cold air may have triggered a nightmare in Agent Barnes. He seemed to have suffered a panic episode, and the breathing techniques plus a sudden lack in adrenalin have caused him to pass out."_

" _Nightmares? He dropped the glass?"_

" _Yes Mister Parker."_

 _Peter stood looking at the glass, then looked back to Bucky. He moved over suddenly, crouching next to the man and looked him over._

" _Are you able to scan him? He's not injured is he? I don't want to worsen it by moving him." There was a tone to Peter's words; concern._

" _Agent Barnes has suffered no physical injury; his breathing exercises were enough to calm him before a full episode was triggered. Though Mister Parker; you are injured yourself."_

Steve saw Tony's knuckles whiten as he gripped onto the edge of the countertop.

" _I'm fine Friday."_

" _Scans and video footage indicate your feet are cut due to the broken glass. They will require care to prevent any infection of the cuts." Peter let out a sigh and shook his head ever so slightly, before moving his arms beneath Bucky, and standing up._

" _Friday if I promise to clean the cuts after he's in bed and this is cleaned up, will you remove this footage? We could both do with no one knowing about it. Come on Pfeffernüsse." There was a pause from Friday as the AI considered it, and a soft chuckle from Peter as he laughed at the dessert name, before letting out a heavy sigh."God Im glad you weren't awake to hear that." Peter stepped carefully over a large shard of glass and headed down the hall to Bucky's room. The suit registered a sudden spike in his heartbeats, and read a quick movement of Peter's eyes to the door to Steve's room, before he quietly headed into Bucky's room, and came out moments later._

" _That sounds reasonable Mister Parker; the footage will be removed once you have performed adequate first aid. There is a kit in the kitchen, the bathroom in Agent Barne's room, the bathroom in Captain Rogers room as well as in Boss's lab."_

 _They watched as Peter left the room, and arrived again moments later in a black singlet and grey sweatpants. He cleaned the glass, carefully disposes of it in the bin, before the audio and video footage ended._

"He didn't eve-" Tony started, tightening his grip even more so on the edge of the bench.

"Mister Parker administered adequate first aid, and even humoured my request he stay off his feet for a half hour."

"But you kept the footage." Tony said, almost accusingly.

"Correct sir, I thought it important for you to see. I did not intend to Agent Barnes nor Captain Rogers to be aware of it."

"He has definitely been listening in on conversations this week." Steve said, realising something. Bucky had noticed it too.

"Why is that?" Tony asked, looking at both men.

"The name he used for Bucky; it's a german dessert, like a biscuit."

"Correct sir, the name relates to a spiced biscuit of german origin. This is part of why Agent Barnes was not intended to be an audience. I have also set a timer to follow the healing rate of the injuries, from the moment they occurred and will monitor them until they are fully healed; where I will end the timer. This will provide useful data for Doctor Banner." With that, Friday went silent.

"Well at the least computer wants to help someone." Bucky said, finally speaking after watching the video. "I'm gonna go outside, for a run." With that he turned and left the lab, avoiding Steve's hand that went to grab his arm.

"I don't understand…" Steve said, trying to piece it all together.

"The kid… Rogers, if the kid finds out I told you, I'll kill you, before I end myself due to the immense guilt." Steve nodded at Tony's words.

"The kid, has nightmares; he's told me about them briefly, but Friday and Karen have reported back that he suffers from them still, every other night.

"So it was a matter of, helping someone with a problem he can relate to?" Steve asked, frowning.

"That's my best guess." Tony turned the screen off and stood up, looking Steve in the eyes. "I'll also end you if Barnes messes with that kid."


	4. Chapter 4 - I Hope I'm Strong Enough

**Chapter 3**

 **I Hope I'm Strong Enough**

"Timer stop." Came Friday's voice over the speakers in the lab.

"Huh?" Bruce asked, confused. Friday had been quiet all day, and he was unsure why the computer had suddenly stopped a timer no one had set.

"Time?" Tony asked, putting a coffee cup in front of Bruce.

"Twelve hours and fifteen minutes to full heal. Time would be less under normal circumstances; it was lengthened by Mister Parker walking on the injured area before seeking medical supplies."

"Hmm, thanks Friday, can you save the data?"

"Of course sir."

"Great. Well there you go Bruce." Tony said, leaning against a bench and facing Bruce. "Some data on the kid's healing." Tony was surprised just how wide the man was able to open his eyes.

"What? Wait, why was he hurt?"

"Long story. He stood on some broken glass, and Friday decided on her own to monitor it."

"Oh. Well, alright, nice." The scientist set to work reading over the data Friday had sent to him.

"Any data on the new suit?" Tony asked Friday.

"No sir, Mister Parker has not yet used the newest suit." Tony frowned.

"You made a new one?"

"It's kind of a test. Some aspects of his other suit with some new features, including a new loading method for his web stuff, and some reinforcement in parts of the suit. His old one seemed to tear in certain spots, I suspect it was due to the muscle mass in the area." Bruce simply nodded, enthralled by the data. The two men fell into a peaceful silence and worked into the night, headed for bed just after midnight. Once again, Bucky and Steve found themselves in the bushes at the football field.

"Good morning Mister parker." Friday said as Peter came onto the field close to one o'clock. "How are you?"

"Full." Peter said with a smile as he threw his gym bag into the grass, and pulled his socks and shoes off, then his sweater. It was a green singlet this time. Bucky had to stop himself from laughing at the hulk logo that sat on the chest pocket. Steve was quite amused as well.

"Where does he get these?" Bucky murmured to Steve, who chuckled in response. They looked back to Peter and saw he had changed into his suit, though it seemed different. The red was a slightly darker shade, and the blue seemed to ripple in the light that came from the light posts. They watched as Peter did some basic acrobatics in the suit, getting a feel for the new outfit, before calling out to Friday.

"Simulation time, Friday."

"As you wish Mister Parker."

With that, they watched Peter evade and destroy a number of holographic enemies. Next, physical drones, that acted as soldiers. They were quickly destroyed by Peter, who came to a stand still in the middle of the field. Another two drones entered the field; these ones obviously more advanced than the others. They resembled real men even more, and the two men were horrified to see one had a star on it's chest, while the other had an obviously altered arm, that mimicked Bucky's.

"He didn't." Steve said, through gritted teeth.

"Mr Stark!" Peter shouted, jumping back as one of the robots went to strike. He evaded the robots as long as he could. Neither Steve, nor Bucky, heard the twig snap beneath Bucky's foot. They did notice how Peter seemed to sudden speed up. He ran at the robot Bucky, and drop to his side, sliding underneath the robot, and flipping backwards, pressing his feet into the back of the robot. He threw out of a web, which stuck to the shield that the robot Steve was holding, ready to throw. He kicked off of robot Bucky, sending himself into the air, where he pulled on his web, and send the shield into the leg of Bucky. Robot Bucky fell to his knees, unable to support itself on one leg; and Peter sprung towards the shield, grabbing it in one hand before throwing it towards robot Steve; it flew beneath robot Steve, and Peter quickly shot a web at it, then pulled it towards him, pulling it through the leg of robot Steve. There wasn't a pause before Peter threw the shield to his side, and Steve and Bucky quickly ducked, before it struck and became embedded in the trunk of the tree they were standing in front of.

When they stood back up, the field was empty besides the two ruined robots. Not ruined; incapacitated. Steve and Bucky walked onto the field, and checked over the robots.

"What the hell was Stark thinking?" Bucky asked, kicking at one of the robots.

"Sometimes I don't think he is." Steve stared at his robot counterpart. "Definitely not when he decided on this." They left the field, Steve grabbing the shield from the tree trunk, and headed back to the Tower.

It was Natasha who found the shield on the dining table, with bark and leaves stuck to it.

"Well, this isn't what I expected to find."

"What isn't? Your compassion?" Tony questioned as he followed her in. She gave him a glare before tilting her head towards the shield. "Oh crap."

"Couldn't have said it better myself." Steve said, standing behind Tony in the doorway; arms folded against his chest. "What were you thinking?!"

"He wasn't meant to do it! Not yet! It was, a future test, when he was more comfortable with everyone, when I was more comfortable with him doing it."

"Can't say we were comfortable with it; he nearly separated Steve's head from his body with it." Bucky said, coming up behind Steve.

"What are you talking about?"

"He threw it at us."

A pause, then. "How did he get it?" Tony asked.

Bucky frowned. "He got it off of the robot."

Tony stumbled, and fell into a dining chair, where he leant back into the cushion. He held his hands to his face.

"He… he got it? How?"

The TV in the sitting room flicked on, and the group sat in the couches, Clint joining them as the video started.

"What are we watching? Why's spider kid on the TV?" He asked. "Is that a hulk shirt?!"

Bruce entered the room with an eyebrow raised, and settled in with the others to watch the footage. They watched without making a sound, as Peter completed the hologram and drone challenge, and watched him take down the two robot avengers.

"He destroyed them." Clint whispered.

"He incapacitated them." Steve said.

"He couldn't damage them, not properly, he just stopped them from continuing the fight." Natasha said, and the screen went black.

"He was… he's never been like that before, not in testing."

"He said he was full." Bucky said, looking at Bruce.

"Friday, did Peter eat before the training?" Bruce asked.

"Correct Doctor Banner. I examined the caloric intake of Agent Barnes and Captain Rogers, and gave the numbers to Mister Parker. I tracked his intake yesterday to ensure he was at the correct amount before training. He asked me to do so."

"Did he?"

"Correction; he asked me to figure out how much he needed to eat, to be properly fed. I did not explain where I got the numbers."

"So, he definitely saw you that time." Natasha mused.

"He did not see the two agents, the suit's AI registered that Peter picked up a sound nearby, and devised the location before throwing the shield held by the training drone."

"Where is he now?"

"Mister Parker has fallen asleep on the couch in Mister Stark's penthouse room. He fell asleep close to three this morning."

"You didn't see him?" Clint looked at Tony.

"I fell asleep in the lab, again, came straight up from there."

"Shall I wake Mister Parker?"

"No!" Everyone shouted.

"I estimate Mister Parker will need nine to ten hours of rest to properly rest. He is experiencing muscle soreness, and will require a high protein meal after he has slept."

"Right." Steve said, standing up. "Friday, find a recipe that you think will be good for him, I'll make it while I do breakfast. We leave it in the fridge with a note, say Tony left it for him." Tony nodded, and the group fell into the usual breakfast preparations. Friday found a recipe that would suit Peter's needs, and used what they had in the kitchen, so it was easy to have it cooked and ready in the fridge for later. The day was dull; it was a training day for everyone, so Bruce could monitor any changes the team had developed, and make sure any previous injuries had correctly healed. At seven o'clock that night, the team had a late dinner before heading to shower and change for bed. Steve woke that night with a dry throat, and a headache that would definitely keep him awake, so he decided to head to the kitchen for a glass of water.

Steve finished the glass of water, as well as the rest of the jug that was in the fridge, and was in the process of refilling the jug when he heard a noise in the lounge. He placed the jug back into the fridge and walked over to the couches, where he saw a teenage boy with brown hair, sprawled out over the couch, asleep. Oh – he was waking up.

Peter woke up a groan, rubbing his eyes as he sat up on the couch, and looked at the source of the noise that had woken him. Steve looked at the red shirt the boy was wearing, and noticed the small metallic logo on the breast pocket; ant-man. Steve let out a soft laugh, and saw the boy's eyes widen.

"Uh…" Peter tried, as he jumped up from the couch. Steve noticed a bruise on the inside of the boy's arm, near the armpit and couldn't stop himself raising an eyebrow. He looked again at Peter and took in this teenager's face; he looked terrified. Steve knew there was no point to pushing the teen, it would only worsen the situation, Peter already looked ready to run and even though Steve stood in the way of the door, he suspected Peter would get away if he wanted to. Steve took a step back, and turned away from peter, before heading out of the room and back to his bedroom. He glanced backwards and saw Peter relax, still standing next to the couch. Steve climbed back into bed and fell back against the soft mattress. He couldn't get the image of Peter out of his mind, he'd never seen someone so purely _terrified._

It had been going on for weeks now, and he knew that the Avengers would be in the Tower a lot more now. Peter couldn't avoid them forever, could he? _No, he can't._ Steve told himself before falling back asleep.

Peter could, and did.

A week later; Steve, Clint, Bucky and Natasha climbed slowly out of the quinjet and made their way into the Tower. Natasha and Clint supported one another; their bodies exhausted, and Steve was supporting Bucky, who was having difficulty staying upright, and conscious.

"Tony!" Steve called out in desperation, not knowing if he billionaire was even in the Tower.

"Straight into the elevator, it's ready to come to medbay. I'm ready." Tony's voice came back over the speakers, and Steve pushed himself to get the barely conscious Bucky to the medbay. He ignored the blood on his hands, and the blood he knew would have dripped from Bucky's shoulder onto the floor. He finally stumbled out of the elevator and fell, Bruce catching Bucky before Steve could drop him. Bruce lowered Bucky onto the ground, and took a deep breath when he saw the state of Steve's arms, and clothes.

"Shower now, Rogers." Tony said, rushing over to the group, crouching down to look at where the Blood was coming from. Steve wanted to argue, but was ushered out by Bruce.

"Rogers, on your way, explain what happened." Tony called out over the speakers, as Bruce helped him lift Bucky onto a medical bench. It had been warmed, so that there was no chance of the cold surface upsetting Bucky; he was fragile enough as it was.

"Something one of the agents said, as they were fighting us. Natasha hit one, and he hit the ground an- and he spat at her, and muttered something in german. Bucky just… froze. He didn't attack, there was no Winter Soldier coming out, he just _stopped._ " Steve's voice came over the speakers, and they heard the echo of a door closing and knew he had made it to the shower room. Tony let out a shaking breath, and did something he hated himself for; he called out for Friday to get the kid.

"What?" Bruce asked, staring at Tony, who looked sick.

"Rogers is in no shape to help, and I know he's injured as well as being mentally exhausted; Natasha and Clint are down as well. We need someone to keep Bucky still if he freaks. Neither of us are capable, not if we want to treat him as well. Even if we both did it, we wouldn't last long."

"Mister Parker is on his way." Friday alerted them, and moments alter, Peter skidded to a stop in the room. He blinked a few times, then saw Bucky, and the blood.

"What-"He started but was interrupted.

"Kid, you stay there." Tony instructed, helping to tear the fabric of Bucky's shirt away from the wound.

"Then why am I here? I'd rather not learn anything medical." Peter said, his voice weary.

"You're our muscle. If we wakes up, watch him. If he starts to move, you keep him on this god damn bench. His shoulders wrecked, it's damaged the connection to his arm, and good god if there is anything that is gonna trigger an episode, it's this." As Tony explained, Peter saw Bucky's eyes flicker open. Something in Peter's head stung, and the feeling ran down his arm, then into his feet and he moved forward. Bucky's flesh arm shout out at Tony, as Peter moved and before Tony could react, he was shoved backwards as Peter stepped in front of the arm.

"Kid!" Tony shouted, ready to see the kid dead, but was relieved and impressed to see Peter holding Bucky's arm inches from his face. Peter strained but was able to get Bucky's arm laying on the table, and Tony and Bruce got to work.

"If he kills me, you're explaining it to May." Peter mumbled, smirking at Tony, who glanced over.

"I'm more scared of her than Tin Man, so try not to di- KID!" Tony was pushed back as Bucky suddenly sat up on the bench breathing hard and sensing someone holding his arm, looking over to see Peter, and narrowed his eyes. Bucky moved quick, and grabbed Peter by the shoulder with his still semi-functioning metal arm, and managed to pull his flesh arm out of Peter's grip.

"Bruce, sedative!" Tony shouted, and saw Bruce filling a needle with a blue liquid from a small jar.

"Peter, move! I need to inject him!"

"Is it quick? Simple injection!"

"It's automatic, I just need to hold it against his ski-" With that, Bruce jumped to the side as Bucky managed to threw Peter over the medical bench. Bucky was standing now, on the other side of the bench, his eyes drifting until he saw Tony on the floor, leaning back against a cabinet.

"C-come on Buck, we wanna help..." Tony said, his voice shaking, a hand in front of him as if to ease Bucky back.

"Stark." Bucky's voice was cold, harsh and robotic. Tony took a sharp breath, and saw Bucky move towards him, he was only a few steps away. Peter breathed in once as he moved, springing to his feet and jumping forward as he grabbed the needle from Bruce's grip.

"Peter!" Bruce shouted. Bucky was at Tony, and Tony had closed his eyes, expecting the metal arm at his neck. It never came. He opened his eyes just in time to see Peter throw himself over the bench, and into Bucky.

"On second thought, if I die; you can tell my aunt." Peter said to Bucky as he pressed the needle end of the injector against Bucky's flesh arm, struggling to hold Bucky against the tiled ground.

"Friday, get this room warmer, now!" Bruce called out, and it only took a few seconds to feel the tiles, and the air begin to warm. Bucky was struggling less now, and Peter was able to lessen his grip on Bucky's metal arm so he could focus on the needle. Bucky soon went still, and Peter let go of the needle so that he could fall to the side, laying on the tiles beside Bucky to catch his breath.

"Tony!" Steve's voice came over the speakers. "What happened? Friday won't let me into the medbay floor!"

"Uh...what…Steve? Steve!" Tony scrambled to his feet, as Pete stood up, and once again lifted up the unmoving Bucky, placing him on the medical bed.

"Uhh, there was an issue, but it's under control now. I don't know why Friday won't let you in though." Tony looked at the speakers in the wall, daring Friday to explain but he felt he knew why; what would Steve have done if he saw Bucky like that?

"Tony…" Steve's voice came again, nervous, shaking.

"Steve, really, everything is fine. Bucky is… alive, which is a miracle in itself with the blood he's lost. If anything goes wrong from here, we will let you know. In person." Tony's words seemed to calm Steve, enough, so the super solider went to check on Natasha and Clint. Tony and Bruce went back to work on Bucky; checking how serious the injury was, how bad his arm connection had been damaged. Peter leant back on a wall, which had become warm, and slid to the ground to rest. He hadn't realised how much he had been sweating, or how much he had strained his arms holding Bucky's away. His body was shaking, and he felt almost sick now that he was sitting still. Peter's shirt and pants were covered in blood, his face was streaked with the blood and sweat, but he was so comfortable sitting against the wall. He closed his eyes, and listened to the sounds of Tony and Bruce working.

 _ **Sorry for that folks! Getting used to a new laptop and the touchpad is a little faster than me! Accidentally uploaded the wrong chapter!**_


	5. Chapter 5 - Crash Landing

**Chapter 5**

 **Crash Landing**

 _I'll never forget the people I met…_

Bucky was cold; the surface under him was hard, and cold.

 _I remember well as the shadows fell…_

The word echoed in his head, he knew it well, it meant punishment. Bucky had gone against orders, he had failed in a mission, and would be punished. The surface under him was hard and cold; the table. Bucky fought back, he hated he table; he hated when they had him here. If he had failed it was their fault, they hadn't made him ready. He fought, striking out at one of the doctors, wanting to strangle him; he would crush his neck. They hadn't given him time.

No, they had given him plenty of time, plenty of training. He had failed of his own doing; he had earnt the punishment. He heard the crackle as they charged the pads, and braced himself as the pads made contact with either side of his forehead, sending the volts into his skin; running over his body, burning and biting at his skin.

 _There'll be love and laughter and peace ever after…_

Bucky had been given the mission; a couple, married. Hydra wanted something they had, and he would get it. He was given instructions not to fail, to do so on this mission would bring a punishment worse than any he had suffered so far. The mission was simple; a hit that anyone could perform, but he had been chosen. Why? It wasn't explained, he was given the mission, given his orders, with promises of a reward upon his return.

His journey to the kill location was plagued by the images of his reward; they had shown him the case, a new arm nestled carefully in the soft lining of the box. He had looked so real, so much like real skin, he refused to believe it was. Yet, in the back of his mind, the image sat and nagged at him. The kill was easy, he collected the required documents and made his way back to base, to return the goods. The reward was promised after a wipe; he would awaken with no memories of the mission, but he would have his new arm. Bucky waited, his head throbbing after the wiping procedure, as the cryo chamber began to cool, and he felt his body weaken, and he fell asleep, thinking of nothing in particular, besides the pain in his forehead, where the burns were starting to show.

 _And Stevie will go to sleep in his own little room again…_

Stevie. Stevie. Steve. Steve!

Bucky awoke with a start, something had touched him arm; he reached out to stop whatever the threat was, and found a hand. He saw his own hand; made of metal, cold, but strong. He saw the flesh hand he was holding in his metal one, and trailed up to see who it belonged to; Tony. Tony Stark.

Stark.

Bucky released the hand as if it had shocked him, and tried to sit up further from the bed was laying on. Tony put a hand on Bucky's uninjured shoulder, and pressed, gently.

"Hey Buck, it's all right man. You're awake, you're safe; you're injured as all hell, you lost a lot of blood, but you're safe."

Bucky was silent; his chest was heaving as adrenalin flooded through his system, he couldn't take his eyes off of Tony's hands, and what they had held. Bucky saw the needle on the bed, next to his leg. Tony slowly picked the needle up, and put it on a bench behind him, before turning back to Bucky. Bucky saw a bruise on the back of Tony's neck, which looked like it spread down past the collar of his shirt.

"You're hurt." Bucky said. Tony looked confused, then rubbed the back of his neck, and winced.

"That's not gonna go away quickly." Tony said, shaking his head as he looked at a computer screen next to the bed. It was a soft bed, a hospital bed. He was in the medbay. He hated the medbay; it was so cold. Today it was warm, comfortably warm. Why? Bucky sat up slowly, and swung his legs over the side of the bed. He was wearing a pair of black sweatpants, but no shirt. His shoulder pinched sharply as he moved, and he grabbed it with his flesh hand; feeling the cold metal brush against his fingers as he did. He froze. His arm. Where was his reward? No. That wasn't… that was so long ago. The mission… Stark. _Stark._

Bucky looked at Tony, and felt the horror spread over his face. Tony looked at Bucky, and seemed to share the same expression.

"Tin Man, whats wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost." Tony checked the screen once more before sliding closer to the bed on the wheeled stool he was sitting on.

"I-I was back… I was there again." His chest heaved.

"You weren't Bucky. You were on a mission, then you were here so we could look after you. We're not letting you go back there." There was a sincere concern in Tony's voice that didn't sound right; it didn't belong there, not for Bucky.

"Kid's fine Tony – you can stop your worrying." Bruce's voice came over the speaker, and Bucky saw Tony deflate. The billionaire ran his hands over his face, and through his hair.

"Thank fucking god." Tony whispered to himself, looking at the ceiling.

"What hurt you?" Bucky asked, looking at Tony. Tony shifted in his seat and looked at the computer screen, not reading anything.

"Me?" Bucky asked, but he knew the answer.

Tony didn't know how to answer.

"I-I didn't…" Bucky couldn't find the words.

"It's fine Barnes; it wasn't a great experience but me and Bruce are fine. I'm going to talk to Steve later and see if he's figured it out. Apparently you just froze in combat."

"It was… the word he said to Natasha. It was a word they used when I'd failed a mission, or fucked something up, so there'd be a punishment. I was… there, again, getting shocked. I guess my body just, panicked…" Bucky said; he was ashamed.

"Can't say I fucking blame ya."

"Wait – you and Bruce? Where was Steve?"

"I made him go shower, he was covered in blood, he wouldn't have been any help."

"I could have triggered! I was triggered! I could've killed you two!" Bucky shouted, getting to his feet.

Tony scooted back on the stool, rolling a short distance away from Bucky, who stopped. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment, before opening them again, slowly.

"Sorry Stark, I-I…"

"It's fine Barnes, we're fine."

"How did I bruise you then? What did I do? Throw you across the room?"

"Good to see you are awake, Agent Barnes. You did not throw Mr Stark across the room." Friday's voice came.

"Friday, no!" Tony stood up. "Do not tell him!"

"Tell me what? What happened?!"

"No! You are not telling him!"

"I need to know! Tell me, Stark!"

"It was the kid!" Tony shouted, his voice weak. He felt so guilty.

He sunk back onto the stool and rubbed his face with his hands. Bucky sat back on the bed, and watched Tony.

"The kid?"

"He… I knew Steve needed to not be there. He wouldn't have helped. You weren't in good shape, we were hurting you, we couldn't not hurt you."

Bucky stared at Tony, then it clicked.

"Natasha and Clint were injured…we…"

"You didn't have anyone else."

"No one. God I wish we had someone, anyone else apart from that fucking kid. What in the of Captain Apple Pie was I thinking calling him in there?!"

On cue, Steve came into the room, a plate of food and three cups of coffee on a tray. He raised an eyebrow; he'd heard.

"Why are you cursing my name, I brought you coffee." He said, putting the tray down on a table nearby and handing the coffee to Tony, as well as one to Bucky. The plate was a neat pile of scrambled eggs and plain toast for Bucky, there was also a croissant with butter and jam for Tony. "What did I miss?"

"Tony telling me about the kid stopping me from killing him." Bucky said as Steve moved back to the tray to get his own drink off of it; which he dropped, the hot coffee spilling over the plastic tray.

"What?!" He shouted, spinning around to face Tony. Tony jumped at the noise; wincing as the action pulled on the bruise on his neck.

"Tony he's already petrified of us!"

"No one else could help Steve! Everyone else was injured, or not here! You included! I know you got shot, so don't bullshit me Rogers!"

"Friday, can we see it?" Steve called out to the AI, Tony spluttered.

"No!"

'Of course Captain Rogers, I will stream it to the computer next to Agent Barnes bed." With that, the screen changed, and they could see the footage of the medbay room; paused. Bucky stood up again, and stood unevenly to watch the video. Tony got up from his seat, and used his hands to gently push Bucky down into the seat, before stepping back. He caught the smile Steve gave him from the corner of his eye, but didn't respond.

The three men watched the footage, complete with audio. Steve heard what he could've sworn was a whimper from Tony when they saw Bucky standing over him on the floor, then watched as Peter threw himself over the medical bench.

"No suit." Steve said at the end.

"He was upstairs reading when I had Friday call him."

"Upstairs? Does he have a room? Oh, the penthouse?" Steve asked; oddly curious.

"Yes, kind of, and no. I'm really not sure where he goes when he's hiding. Friday won't tell me."

"Kind of?"

"Another time, Bucky's well enough to go to his own bed if you wanna help him up there. I need a shower and a non-alcoholic beverage because, I fucking hate myself." Tony left the two soldiers in the room, and headed to the kitchen, croissant in hand. Steve shook his head and helped Bucky up to his room, before heading to his own. That night, Steve fell into one of the heaviest sleeps he'd had in some time. It was the sound of the window beside his bed opening that woke him. He sat up straight, expecting an intruder, but there was no one.

"Apologies Captain Rogers, might I advise you leave your bed." Friday said as the window stopped; completely open. Steve climbed out of the bed and stepped away from it, he didn't know what to expect. It certainly wasn't what happened. He was staring at the bed, when Spiderman flew in threw the open window and landed in a heap in his bed. The teenage superhero groaned as he pushed himself up and climbed out of the soft bed.

"Karen what kind of landing was that?" He muttered to himself, not realising Steve was there.

"Apologies Mister Parker, your fall trajectory would not have allowed for safe landing elsewhere. Mister Stark is aware of your arrival. He is ready for you in the penthouse." Peter left the room in a slow shuffle, pulling his mask off as he left the room. Steve took a breath he didn't realise he was holding, and looked at his bed; blood, everywhere. His pillow, sheets and blanket were covered.

"Tony?" He called out.

"What Rogers?" Tony spat back over the speakers; he wasn't mad, he was worried. Steve could hear it.

"Is the kid alright?"

"How do you know?" Tony's voice was flat.

"He… he landed in my bed."

"Were you in it?"

"No, Friday told me to get up. I wasn't really sure what was going on." I woke up to my window opening."

"Oh good. Least the kid won't die from embarrassment as well as possible blood loss."

"What!"

"Sorry, squashing my fears with humour, won't do it again, today. I hope."

"Do you need any help?"

"No it's all good Cap, go back to bed. I don't think it'll help if he finds out where he landed. Wait, shit, is your bed a mess?"

"I mean, it normally isn'-"

"I know you make your bed every morning, so shut it. Is it full of blood?"

"Yeah it is. Don't spiders have green blood?"

"Are you always this insufferable when you've just woken up? Oh shit, kid! Bloody hell – I'm lucky you weigh as much as a piece of paper." Tony's words were partly covered by the sounds of something falling over.

"I'm really sorry Cap bu-"

"Look after the kid Tony, I'll find somewhere to sleep."

"Can you, make him something to eat when you're doing breakfast?" Tony sounded odd; desperate, guilty, frightened.

"I can do that."

"Thank you."

The conversation ended, and the room fell into silence, Steve hadn't even noticed that the window had closed. The room was cold from the window being open, and the bed was covered in blood; these weren't what were upsetting Steve though. He felt so _lonely_ all of a sudden. The video from the medbay had hurt; he couldn't pinpoint why, but something in chest ached when he watched it. Perhaps it was the fact that one of his best friends, had almost killed his other best friend without being aware of it, and it was stopped by a teenager who was terrified of him. Was Peter terrified of him? It certainly seemed it; going by the expression he'd had on his face in the lounge. Why was he asleep on the couch? Did he actually not have a room here? Surely Tony would have made sure the kid had somewhere to sleep.

He hadn't seen that look on Bucky's face since he was still the Winter Soldier; he had lost it, they had thought. It didn't seem to be an attack, he just seemed frightened. He wanted to escape, but wouldn't tell Steve why, or where from. No one would tell him, which he appreciated, but also found incredibly frustrating. Steve shook his head, but his thoughts didn't change, he only made his head ache.

"Some leader you are." Steve muttered to himself, and headed out to the main lounge. He laid down on the couch, and felt something hard beneath a cushion. He pulled out what he found to be a book. He looked over the book, just able to read the writing in the dull glow from the clock in the kitchen; _Peggy Carter: The Woman Who Loved Captain America_. Steve stared at the cover, and realised his hands were shaking. He placed the book on the coffee table and laid back into the couch; he closed his eyes, and tried to ignore his thoughts. After an hour of laying with his eyes shut, but not falling asleep, Steve groaned to himself. He could see the blood, and how the kid seemed so sure of himself, walking out of the room; as if he wasn't injured.

"Friday, is Tony awake still?"

"He sure is." Came Tony's voice, from behind Steve. He sat up and turned to see Tony standing in the kitchen, barely illuminated by the clock on the wall. He had a mug in one of his hands; the other was on the countertop of the kitchen island.

"Coffee? Bit of an odd time isn't it?"

"It's some kind of tea that's meant to help you sleep; Rhodey got it for me. I figure it can't hurt to have it every now and then."

"Oh, right."

"Shame that nothing short of a horse tranquiliser is going to get to sleep tonight."

Steve didn't know why, but he laughed at that. Tony came over and lowered himself into an armchair across from the couch, resting his feet up on the coffee table.

"Is the tea any good?" Steve asked, watching Tony.

"It takes too much like flowers for my liking but, I'll try it. Peter loves the shit; I'll have to get Rhodey to pick out some other flavours for him. If we say they're for him, he'll stutter and not want him, saying it's too much too expensive." Tony said, smiling softly at the mug of tea. "But… if I say Rhodey got them for me, in this bid to make me sleep, and offer them to him while we work, saying it'll convince Rhodey I'm drinking it. He'll finish it."

Steve definitely smiled at that, he laid back in the couch and rested his head against the cushion.

"What are you reading?" Tony asked at the same time Steve asked "Is he eating properly?"

The two cracked a smile at each other, and both took a deep breath in. Tony waved at Steve to go first, as he took a sip of his tea.

"Reading?" he asked, and his eyes drifted to the book he had put on the coffee table. He picked it up and passed it to Tony, who took it with his free hand.

"It was under one of the couch cushions. Who hides books?"

"Someone who doesn't want you knowing they're reading about you. He's eating better, Friday and Karen are monitoring him for me, and giving him little reminders to eat during the day."

"Why would he be reading about me?"

"Why does the kid do anything?" Tony threw the book onto the table. "80% chance it's to mess with us, 20% he genuinely just wanted to read it, and got nervous."

"He was out here the other morning, asleep on the couch. I was getting water and woke him up. You should have seen him when he saw me."

"Deer in the headlights?"

"The deer was dead, and he was waiting for the predator to get him next."

Tony simply nodded, and finished his tea.

"You should try and sleep Tony, tomorrow is a big day."

"Same to you, Captain."

"Tony, we leave before breakfast."

Tony blinked, he had forgotten.

Steve smiled gently at his friend.

"I'll make sure there's something in the fridge for him."

Tony nodded and turned, leaving back to the penthouse.

Steve knew Tony appreciated it; he didn't need a vocalised thank you. He fell asleep thinking about the mission tomorrow, and his thoughts drifted to the war, then to Peggy as he drifted to sleep.

The team left early the next morning and as promised, there was a full plate of breakfast in the fridge when they left. Complete with a note from Tony himself; Steve had spent a few extra minutes making sure his writing looked like Tony's. They were due back that night, it wouldn't be a long mission. Tony had told Peter they would be gone, but would be back just after dinner. It was the next morning when Peter was awoken by alarms, and Friday.

"Good Morning Mister Parker. The team has just arrived back, and would seem to require some assistance."

"F-Friday? Ugh, what time is it? Why do they need help?" Peter rolled to his back, still under the covers and looked at the alarm clock. He had fallen asleep in a guest bed, in one of the few empty rooms.

"It is four thirty-two in the morning; there was an incident during the mission."

 _ **Thank you to everyone who has left reviews! I am glad everyone is enjoying the story! I am not sure as to how Peter's relationship with everyone will progress just yet. If you have any ideas for future chapters, or scenes you'd like to see, please let me know!**_


	6. Chapter 6 - Temporary Doctor

**Chapter 6**

 **Temporary Doctor**

 _We'll meet again…_

Peter threw himself from the bed, and raced from the room. He hadn't properly seen the landing pad, and wasn't very sure where in the building it was. Something in his feet drove him, tingling angrily as he ran down the hallways, his senses going into overdrive as he found the landing pad. He came into the room through the large two sided door which was already open, and took a sharp breath as he saw the scene before him. Natasha and Clint were sitting on the ground, leaning against one another for support; eyes closed, wincing in pain, blood on the ground beneath them.

 _Keep smiling through, just like you always do…_

He looked around, and found Bruce next. The dark haired scientist was sprawled on the floor of the ramp that came out of the jet. His clothes were covered in blood as well; Peter had no idea if it was, his, or another Avenger's. Peter felt his head start to spin; the smell of the blood was so _strong._ It stung his nose, and he could taste the copper in the air. Peter shook his head and ran from the room, sucking in deep breaths of clean air as he ran to the penthouse, and ran back. It was lucky it only took him moments to change into the suit now.

"Karen, are you able to clean the air somehow? The smell is too much."

"Of course, Peter."

Peter heard a soft hiss, and took in a deep breath of air, and felt how clean it was. It still wasn't totally free of the smell but, it was worlds better. He let out a relieved sigh, and knew it would only take a few moments for the spinning in his head to stop.

' _Til the blue skies drive the dark clouds far away…_

"Okay, can you scan them? Find out who's hurt the most, and who can wait out here a little longer." Peter's talking was laboured by his heavy breathing; a mixture of panic, and the smell of blood getting to him moments before.

"Scans indicate that Agents Barton and Romanov are in the worst condition, multiple blunt force and shrapnel based injuries. Damage to their suits indicate some sort of blast." Peter nodded and looked at Bruce.

"Dr Banner is the least injured of the three. Small cuts on his arms and neck, but majority of the blood seems to belong to the two other agents. He seems to be unconscious; it could be a concussion, or simply due to exhaustion from their mission." Peter nodded and moved forward with quick steps, and found Steve and Bucky inside the jet still.

 _So will you please say hello, to the folks that I know…_

"Agent Barnes and Captain Rogers are injured, though not to the extent of Agents Barton and Romanov. Agent Barnes has numerous injuries to his back, his non-metal arm and his left leg. Shrapnel injuries, similar to those of the two other agents. Captain Rogers has similar injuries to Agent Barnes, but appears to have been thrown some distance, and has struck his head against something. Captain Rogers is unconscious, where Agent Barnes appears to be slipping between a conscious and semi conscious state."

Peter nodded and hesitated before running back to Clint and Natasha. He kneeled down and did his best to smoothly pick the two up. He knew the way to the medbay, but Friday was kind enough to give him some directions over the speakers.

"Peter, Fiday has informed me that there are two medical cots in the back of the medbay." Peter looked around, and saw what looked like two glass coffins, with a computer screen on the side of each one.

"The coffin things?"

"Scanners indicate what you are looking at, are indeed the medical cots."

"Okay but-"

"Friday has given me the instructions for you. Both cots are ready to begin treatment, and are open. You must simply place each Agent into a separate cot, and the lid will automatically close and begin diagnostics, then treatment. It is totally hands off for operation."

"Oh thank god." Peter muttered as he followed the instructions and carefully lifted then lowered Clint into one, then Natasha into the other. The lids closed with a hiss, before the computer screens flicked on, and began to run through the diagnostic program. He watched for a moment, before leaving again, and racing back to the Jet. He carefully lifted Bruce, before placing him on one of the cushioned benches in the jet. That would do for now.

 _Tell them I won't be long, they'll be happy to know…_

He moved over to Steve and Bucky, looking at them both with hesitation.

"Alright Karen, what are we doing with these two?" He paused, then realised. 'Karen, where's Mr Stark? He isn't with the others!"

"Not to worry Peter." Friday assured him, as he lifted Steve from the metal floor of the jet. Steve had fallen against Bucky, and was blocking Peter's way to the other man. He adjusted Steve in his arms, and left the jet. He began the journey to the medbay again, much slower than last time.

"Mr Stark was travelling back in one of his suits, he was not in the jet, and will arrive shortly. He is aware he teammates are injured."

"Oh, fantastic." Peter grumbled. He had gotten back to the medbay, and was instructed by Karen to place him on one of the medical benches. He let out an exhausted groan, and made his way back to the jet, yet again. He was surprised he wasn't dizzy.

"Friday has begun the processing of warming the room, this will help to prevent an episode in Agent Barnes."

"Oh of course!" Peter had totally forgotten. He lifted Bucky, hoping the man wouldn't regain consciousness while Peter was holding him. _How was it possible he was even heavier than Steve? Was it the arm?_ Peter thought to himself as he carried Bucky to the medbay, and placed the other super soldier onto his own medical bench, which Peter felt was incredibly warm. A pleasant warmth; Peter yearned to lay down on it and fall back asleep.

"Mr Stark has arrived on the landing pad." Friday came over the speakers, and Peter raced back to find Mr Stark. He arrived back as Tony's suit made contact with the landing pad. It wasn't Tony's normal suit; it was a stealth suit he had developed for the mission.

 _But I know we'll meet again, some sunny day…_

"Mr Stark!" God Peter was glad to see him. He watched as the suit hissed, and opened outwards. Tony stumbled, and fell forward out of the suit. Peter darted forward, and caught Tony inches above the ground. Tony didn't stir from the rough way Peter caught him, nor did he stir when Peter grumbled, and carried Tony to the medbay as well. Peter had seen the damage to the leg of the suit, and was worried he would have injuries like the others. Friday, and Karen, assured him he did not.

"Mr Stark has reached a peak of exhaustion. His body has reached a point it can no longer keep itself in an awake state; he will need rest, followed by fluids and a small meal." Friday said over the speakers. Peter had placed Tony on one of the regular hospital beds they kept in the medbay. He changed out of his suit quickly, threw it onto the coffee table in the lounge, before collecting Bruce and placing him into another hospital bed. He watched for a few minutes as a robot arm checked over Bucky and Steve before administering some basic first aid, and some pain relief; it had been developed by Tony and Bruce, to work properly with the super soldier's metabolisms. Peter felt some relief, and headed up to the kitchen. He had been scolded by Karen, gently, that he needed to eat. He set about making himself a small sandwich, and ate it while preparing a pot of soup for the others, with Karen's detailed guidance.

"The soup will provide a good source of fluids, nutrients and easily digested sustenance for everyone." She had explained. He didn't have the heart to say he didn't care; she was so helpful. He took the pot of the heat and tidied up the majority of his mess, before flopping onto the couch in the lounge. Peter asked Friday to wake him as soon as he was needed by the others. He rolled onto his side, and saw his book on the coffee table; he was too exhausted to worry about who had found it. Peter closed his eyes and soaked in the warm smell of the soup; he had asked for help making chicken noodle soup, it's what May always did when he was ill.

"Friday, get me when there's an actual adult here." He mumbled, and fell asleep on the couch. Friday dimmed the lights just enough, though it was not hugely necessary; heavy rain clouds had formed overhead, and rain had begun to pour over the Tower. It was until after midday, close to one o'clock that the first person stirred in the medbay. Bruce groaned in his bed, and sat up, with what felt like the worst headache he'd ever experienced. He looked over at the other bed, and saw Tony, was had begun to stir as well. He billionaire let out a loud groan as he sat up, rubbing his own head.

"In the love of Thor, that hurts." Tony muttered to himself, and saw Bruce. "Well, thanks for the help Bruce but, why are you in a bed down here as well? You know, you have a bedroom." Tony wanted to be a smart ass, but his aching body made it very difficult. There was no bite to his words.

"Umm, I woke up here Tony. I didn't bring anyone down." Bruce said, and the two men stared at each other, and had the realisation at the same time.

"The kid!" They both shouted and scrambled out of their admittedly, very comfortable beds. They raced from the medbay, not even seeing the others, and headed to the elevator, which wouldn't open.

"Friday!" Tony yelled out.

"Good afternoon Boss, it is good to see you awake. You as well Dr Banner."

"No chit chat, why won't the elevator open?"

"The elevator's arrival at the main floor will be loud enough to wake Mister Parker. If you require entry to this floor, you will need to take the stairs."

Tony went to argue, but shook his head, and lead the way to the staircase, and lead Bruce upstairs.

"Refrain from any loud noises whilst upstairs, gentlemen." Friday said, as Tony opened the door to the main room, which promptly knocked over a metal umbrella stand. The metal crashed into the ground and clattered for what felt like an eternity before falling silent. Tony and Bruce looked into the dim room, and felt the warm air, and could smell something off in the kitchen. They crept into the kitchen, and saw the pot of soup.

"Friday, who made soup?" Tony asked, gobsmacked. Had Rhodey snuck in?

"Mister Parker asked for assistance in preparing a meal for everyone, for when they had woken up. He specifically wanted guidance in making chicken noodle soup; I believe he said something about Aunt May making it." Tony felt his chest heave; Peter had made it? Peter had become Aunt May, just for a short while.

"Well, then, where's Rhodey?"

"At a meeting with his superior officers, overseeing plans for an upcoming mission. He has not been in the Tower."

"So… who moved us?"

"Mister Parked moved Agents Barton and Romanov to the medical cots, before moving Agent Barnes and Captain Rogers to the medical benches so that they could receive basic first aid from the automatic doctor. He removed his suit before taking Dr Banner downstairs, then came back upstairs upon your arrival, and brought you down after you collapsed due to exhaustion."

There was a pause, before Tony shouted. "He what?!"

They both heard something in the lounge hit the ground with a thud, before hearing someone groan.

"Friday, what is it?" they heard.

"Mr Stark and Dr Banner are awake."

"Oh. Oh!" And they heard the young boy scramble to his feet, before running into the kitchen.

"Oh, awake AND upstairs?"

"Yes, Mister Parker."

Peter shook his head and rubbed his face. Peter stumbled half asleep into the kitchen, and froze when he saw the two men. Tony heart jumped into his throat; Friday had aid Peter was wearing his suit, so how was the boy so covered in blood? It was in his hair, on his arms, and there were splotches of dried blood on his shirt. It was a pyjama shirt. Tony realised the kid must have been asleep when the others had arrived, he wouldn't have been in his suit at all.

"You put the suit on." He said, more to himself. Peter cocked his head to one side.

"Yeah?"

"Why?"

"The smell… it was just, a lot of blood and, god it made me feel so sick." Peter was about to start shaking, and soon the apologies would start, and Tony couldn't handle that this morning.

"Kid, for the sake of my barely functioning heart; go take a shower. If I have to keep looking at you with all that blood on you I'm going to keel over." Tony said, fake desperation at his voice, as he gently nudged Peter out of the kitchen.

The teen smiled tiredly. "It's not even mine." He stumbled off to the showers, and Tony sucked in a heavy breath. "Kid, that makes it worse." He mumbled to himself. Tony looked back to Bruce, to see the man had already gotten himself a bowl of the soup, and was halfway through it already. Tony raised an eyebrow, and Bruce gave a sheepish smile is response.

"Tony it's good, man it's so good."

"Good because it's good, or good because it's the first thing you've eaten in almost twenty-four hours?"

"Both." Bruce said, with a laugh, as he continued with the soup. Tony smirked and got himself a bowl as well, and sat at the dining table. Bruce was right; the soup was good. Very good. Bruce had gotten a second serving and joined Tony at the table, where they ate in silence.

"He put the whole suit on." Bruce pointed out, breaking their silence. Tony looked up at the other man, continuing to eat.

"He would have only needed his mask to filter the air, he would know that; he's smart. Why did he put the whole thing on?" Bruce had a point, and it made Tony think. The man frowned, at his bowl of soup, and sighed.

"Maybe he needs it, like a barrier between what's he's doing? I don't know. Maybe it's like me, I can't really do anything without my suit. He has abilities outside the suit but… maybe he needs the suit, or he feels like he can't help." Tony said, unsure what he was saying. "Or maybe, he did it without even thinking about why he was doing it. Like a security blanket. With how often he seems to the one bleeding, he certainly doesn't seem to be any better with blood."

"I wasn't too keen on being covered in blood that wasn't mine." Peter said, walking into the room, drying his hair with a towel. He had changed into another singlet, and a pair of sweatpants. "You don't need to analyse me."

"if you turn around and there's a logo on that shirt that isn't mine, I'm sending you home." Tony warned, finishing his soup. Peter smirked in return, and headed into the kitchen. Tony and Bruce caught the silver hammer on the back of the shirt.

"Thor?!" Tony cried out. "Why Thor?! He hasn't even been here for ages!"

"I noticed; he could've helped carry you lot." Peter said from the kitchen as he poured himself a glass of juice, finished it, and poured another one.

"Kid-"

"I ate while I made the soup." He said, looking at Tony over the glass as he finished his second glass of juice.

"Oh. Well, alright then." Tony seemed stuck on what to say. Peter put his glass in the sink, stared at it, and frowned. He decided dishes were for later, and left the room again.

"it's like no one knows we own a dishwasher – why does everyone insist on handwashing?" Tony grumbled to himself as he put the bowls they had used into the sink, then the two men headed back to the medbay, luckily Friday let them use the elevator this time. They arrived to find Clint helping Natasha out of her cot, where she was cursing in Russian.

"Oof, language, come on now you'll upset our lovely apple pie." Tony said as they walked in, and saw that Steve and Bucky had begun to stir as well.

"Natasha is voicing how my head feels." Steve said with a groan as he pulled himself up from the bench, and helped Bucky up. Bucky grumbled a thank you and rolled his shoulders a few times.

"Your timing must've been great Tony, to get us down here." Steve said as he sat himself on the bench he had been laying on. Bucky sat down beside him and nodded in agreement.

"I arrived after you guys, by a good awhile I think."

"What, so who was here? Thor?" Clint asked, and practically stepped back when he saw the look on Tony's face at the name. "What's got you in a mood?"

"Long story." Bruce said with a chuckle, as he moved over to Bucky and Steve to check over injuries.

"Boss, peter has asked me to inform you that he has eaten again and asked me to tell you 'stop being a mum'." Friday's voice came over the speakers, and everyone's eyes widened; except for Bruce and Tony.

"The kid?!" Clint yelled.

"He…was the only one here when we left." Bucky groaned out as Bruce finished up some stitches, deciding that Bucky was in the best shape he could be for now.

"I really need to figure out where he's getting these shirts…" Tony mumbed to himself, a little too loudly.

"Tony!" Steve shouted. "This isn't the time!"

"Wait!" Clint shouted, even louder, and grinned at Tony. "Was he wearing a Thor shirt?"

Clint fell into giggles at Tony's annoyed nod.


	7. Chapter 7 - Adult Books

**Chapter 7**

 **Adult Books, No Peter's Allowed**

The tower was oddly silent; there wasn't even a whisper from the people that lived there, in the day following their disastrous return. Natasha and Clint were still recovering, they had been awfully close to not coming back; several shards of shrapnel had gone through their armour, and caused devastating amounts of damage. Bucky and Steve had fared better, due to their position in the jet, and their genes. Steve had suffered a concussion due to being thrown against the control panel, and Bucky mostly had shrapnel injuries similar to Natasha and Clint, with some force trauma; he was glad his arm hadn't been damaged again. Bruce had checked over everyone, before slowly releasing them one by one with orders to eat, and go straight to bed. Tony had stayed back after the rest had left, and ran some diagnostics on the medical cots, making sure they would be ready for the next time they were needed. With tired eyes, and an aching body, Tony finally turned off the lights in the medbay and went to his own bed. It was midnight when he fell into his bed, and all he could do was stare at the ceiling. It hadn't taken long for him to fall asleep, and he awoke at ten to seven that morning, his stomach screaming for food; his aching head was screaming for coffee.

He slowly made his way to the kitchen, the tower was dimly lit; it was still raining. They had finished the pot of soup, which no one was pleased about, but Tony found a pan of scrambled eggs in the fridge; it was a huge amount of food. He scooped some into a bowl, and put it into the microwave to heat while he waited for some toast. That's how the morning continued; with everyone trickling into the kitchen one at a time, and finding the eggs. They'd make some toast, heat up some eggs, and head back to their rooms. Steve collected three plates; his own, and a plate each for Natasha and Clint. Clint moaned at the eggs, wanting more soup, but still devoured the meal he was given. The day carried on, and carried into the next morning, where the routine started again. Today, Tony was the second one in the kitchen, where he found Steve sitting at the table eating his breakfast.

Steve looked at the still groggy Tony and smiled gently.

"Morning Stark, want some breakfast?" Tony nodded gently, not wanting to anger his head, and held his eyes shut tight. He opened them a few minutes later, to see a plate of eggs and toast, and a cup of coffee in front of him.

"Oh thank the gods, even the shitty ones." Tony sighed, and dug into the simple meal. "How did you have the energy to make breakfast?" Tony asked, looking at Steve, who had gotten himself another serving of eggs.

"It was in the fridge, again." Steve answered, his eyes were heavy; as was his head. He felt weighed down.

The team had come to some kind of silent agreement, without seeing one another, to not mention what had happened to the kid. Which was going even better than they could have imagined; as no one had even seen him. There hadn't been any evidence he had even been in the tower, but for two mornings now, they had found breakfast ready in the fridge for them. Tony had asked Friday, a few times during the night, where Peter was. He got the same response each time.

"Mister Parker's location is unknown."

Tony frowned at the dining table, glaring at the eggs he had been enjoying.

"Did your breakfast insult you?" Steve asked, and Tony looked at him, not realising he had been staring at the food for so long.

"I never did do anything for his birthday."

"Would he let you?"

"…Probably not. He gets so weird about me spending anything on him like, like he thinks he doesn't deserve it. Which is bullshit."

"Tony, I know you like the kid but-"

The stare Tony gave Steve could have sunk Hydra.

"-he is so confusing."

Tony blinked, that's not what he was expecting.

"What do you mean?"

"From what I know, he is still terrified of me and Bucky, maybe even more so of Bucky now. He hid a book, and I'm sure he knows we've seen it now. It's not on the coffee table anymore, but… he's done some intense stuff for us recently. I understood Bucky; he was protecting you. Of course he would have stepped up in that situation but… the other day, it was all of us." Steve finished, and frowned at his own empty plate.

"He has a room." Tony whispered.

"What?"

"The room he uses, he calls it the guest room – he refuses for some reason, to accept that it is his."

"Have you told him?"

"I've tried to, but he skirts around the topic. I think, for now, I can deal with that. I don't even know if he's alive at the moment, which, I am finding a lot harder to deal with."

"Has he been on the training field?" The new voice was Bucky, who had come to find food an coffee as well. Tony dropped his fork at the words.

"Friday!" he shouted.

"Yes Boss?"

"Has Peter been on the field?"

"Peter's whereabouts have been unknown."

"Since when?"

"Since it was confirmed that the team were covering."

"Any chance o-"

"Whereabouts unknown means I don't know where he is, Boss." Steve snorted at the computer's tone, and Bucky shook his head as he made himself a plate of eggs and toast.

"Well tonight, we might fucking know." Tony said, jumping up from the table and leaving with the first smile he'd had in days. "You're both coming!" he yelled at, and the two men sighed. That wouldn't help at all.

The day went by far too slowly for Tony; he'd forgotten about two meetings, and a training session, and they were unbearably dull, and he watched the clock the entire day. Finally, it was after midnight, and he all but dragged Steve and Bucky to the edge of the field. The lights were on, which meant nothing, they were on some nights for the security cameras to do sweeps. They saw movement, and the three men saw Peter walk onto the field; he was carrying his gym bag, and was wearing a black singlet.

"Oh fucking finally." Tony whispered to himself, but the others heard him. They watched Peter do his laps, and saw him duck into the shadows to change into the suit. He walked back out, adjusting his mask and threw his clothes into the open bag that was on the wet grass. It was still raining, though not as heavy as it had been. The trees provided enough cover that the men stayed reasonably dry as they watched peter practice his acrobatics, and do his warm ups, before they saw the hologram program begin. Peter completed two of the hologram programs, before a group of the training robots made their way onto the field. They all recognised two of the robots; it was Robot Bucky, and Robot Steve, plus four other robots, all of them the more advanced unit. Robot Bucky moved first, and peter easily jumped out of the way. He moved between the robots, weaving between them and sliding under legs.

"Shit, they have weapons." Bucky said, and the two other men saw them too; the four non named robots each had some form of blade in one of their hands. Peter leapt back as one of the robots went to strike him with said knife, but he flipped back and flung himself onto one of the light posts. From there, he shot a web and held fast to the robot, which he pulled towards the light post. Peter jumped over, and wrapped the web around the top of the post; they saw the robot hanging from the post, caught in the webbing Peter had wrapped it's arms with. They watched Peter disable two more of the robots, easily disarming them of their blades, and destroying a leg on each one. The Steve robot flung it's copy-cat shield, and they watched in horror as it flew towards the back of Peter's head. The shield was almost on him when he leapt upwards, and flipped back over the shield, landing on the ground after it had passed, and struck into the chest of the last un-named robot. He grabbed the shield from the robot's leg, and held it infront of him as robot Bucky charged forward.

"There's blood on the shield." Bucky whispered, and Tony almost shouted as he noticed it too. Suddenly, peter dropped the shield, and raced forward. He leapt up, and landed on the shoulders of fake Bucky, he reached down before jumping off and landing against the chest of robot Steve. As Peter stood up straight, he turned and looked at the robots, when there was a loud crackle, and they could see the white-blue streaks of electricity that raced over the bodies of the robots, before they succumbed to the attack and fell to the ground.

"Holy shit." Bucky said, as they watched Peter head back to the shadows with his bag, and come back out in the singlet and pants. There was a glistening cut down his right forearm, which he stared at with a frown, before leaving the field the way he had come.

"Oh my good god." Tony all but shouted at the symbol on the back of the singlet; a black spider.

Steve and Bucky barely made it to the dining broom before they were overtaken by giggles.

"Black Widow." Steve and Bucky had wheezed out between laughs; god they wanted to wake Natasha up and tell her.

"Friday-" Tony tried, but was cut off by the AI as he made it to his own bed, having left the idiots behind.

"Mister Parker has already applied appropriate first aid to the wound. He is resting at Ned's house; I believe they are building something out of lego."

"How did I end up with the biggest nerd of a teenager?" Tony muttered as he climbed into his soft bed.

"I believe the saying is 'it takes one to know one', sir."

Tony fell asleep with an amused grin on his face.

He came back to the lounge the next morning, at a more acceptable time, to hear Clint laughing. _Oh boy._

"Morning cherubs, how are we all?" Tony said as he made his way into the room, and saw that there was already breakfast at his eat; pancakes, and coffee. _It's Saturday!_ He screamed in his head; the most blissful scream he could imagine.

'He'll get to you eventually Tony, don't worry." Clint said, an annoying glint in his eye.

"Can you even buy black widow stuff? Surely your entire purpose is… not to be known?" Bucky was pretty sure that was her job.

"Apparently I'm not as good as I thought." Natasha said with a grin.

"He must be having it made then, custom; why the hell?' Clint was thinking out loud. No one had an answer, so after finishing their Saturday morning pancakes, they all settled in for an easy day. It was still raining but, they had no training planned, and no missions. It wasn't long before everyone was at their favourite places in the tower. Steve had picked up his pencils and a sketch pad, and sat down next to a large window in the library. Bucky eventually wandered in and laid down on the couch with a book in his hand. He laid down on a couch nearby, avoiding the window, and settled down in the couch's plush cushions to read; it was a recount of the war, from a small group of soldiers. He had never met them, but he enjoyed their stories. He liked reading about their friendship. That's how he explained it to Steve anyway. Steve wasn't expecting Bucky to start giggling at the book like a schoolboy an hour after starting to read. Steve looked out the window, at the football field, and concentrated on his drawing , though it was hard, with a child giggling behind him.

"I thought you were reading a book about men in a gruesome, miserable war." Steve commented without looking away from his sketchpad.

"I am, it's good." Bucky said, trying to stifle his giggles. He succeeded; for all of ten minutes. Steve turned around when the giggling started again, and caught Bucky's eyes for a second. Both men moved at the same time; Bucky jumped from the couch as Steve leapt forward, aiming for the book. Bucky's giggles became cackles as he raced from the room, with Steve after him, the book was still in Bucky's hand.

"Come here, you jerk!"

"Catch me, punk!"

The two disappeared into the halls of the tower, as Bucky ran, and Steve chased.

Tony was in the lounge, sitting on one of the couches, enjoying some peace and a cup of coffee, when he heard a phone ring.

"Uh, hello?" He answered, and the Tv screen turned on before him, showing a stream of a man in an office, or a hospital; Tony couldn't tell.

"What!" Tony shouted in surprise, and the man looked in surprise as well.

"You answered?" The man asked, leaning back in a chair, and staring at what could only be a webcam of some sort.

"Yes I answ- Scott?" Tony fell back into the couch, and stared at the man on the screen, Scott Lang, Ant-Man. Tony didn't want to say it but, the man looked terrible. The man seemed to be aware of how he looked. "You seem surprised the person you called answered."

"It was a long shot. I'm just kind of…it's not been a good day, and was wondering if you could give some help." Tony wasn't sure what to think.

"Scott I don't kno-"

"Not money." That definitely confused Tony; people usually only called him when they needed money. "There was an accident today, in a lab and… I was wondering if you know any good clean up services?"

"What kind of accident? Is anyone hurt?"

"No, it's… well, I don't know if it was an accident or not. It's at a college, the lab had only just opened after renovations, there wasn't anything ongoing that could have exploded. We had barely even put chairs into the building, let alone had any projects going." The man sounded as if he was ready to cry.

"An explosion?"

"Yeah, I didn't realise it was happened until, well, it happened. One of the students – she, god damn I said no one was hurt, I don't know if she is, she must be because she's not here. She jumped in front of me, and another student, we got blown back. I couldn't find her when I came to."

"Scott-"

"Something's beeping. Is that you? Sorry, I didn't realise you were on a call already."

"Why is it beeping on your end? Scott, I'll hang up but stay on the line for me, I'll get Friday to get contact details from you and send you info about some clean up services. And if you know her name, tell Friday the name of the student who… I'll try and find some details out about her for you."

"Thanks Tony." The voice was a whisper, the man looked almost dead.

"Before you go!"

"Yes?"

"Where can I get antman merchandise?"

The laugh the man gave was weak. "I'm flattered you feel that way but, I don't think it exists."

The call went dead, and the man's footage was replaced by another.

"Um!" Tony shouted at the new person on his screen.

"Hello, my friend!" Came T'Challa's warm voice. The man was in a room, that Tony could see was likely gorgeous in person.

"Uh hello your highness…why…"

"Please! I get enough 'your highness' here, I have a name my friend!"

"Yes and it usually has the word 'King' in front of it, so…anyway, why the call?"

"Ah! I am in need of some assistance, nothing of a financial matter, I am need of you personally!" Tony choked on his coffee, and stared at the man on his television.

"My friend Stark, is everything alright?"

"Yes, it's just been a weird morning. What do you need my help with?"

"We have begun new construction in Wakanda, close to the palace, and I was hoping you could help us with some of the finer details."

"Such as?"

"We are hoping to - with your permission – install a Stark made security system into the new building."

"What kind of building?" Tony was nervous; he expected a jail, a prison, an armory. _Not again._

"A hospital." The smile on T'Challa's face was so warm and genuine, it tugged at Tony's chest.

"A hospital?"

"Yes my friend, we have had many medical buildings in the city, each small and basic, but we would like build something to be proud of, and want to be able to keep those who are in there for their health, safe."

"That's a huge project…wow…"

"I am aware, and I understand what an undertaking it would be. Your team is welcome of course! Everyone, whoever you would like to bring; treat it as a holiday! The first part of the trip after your arrival would be discussing payment-"

"No."

"Pardon my friend."

"Your highness, friend, whatever you like. I will not be asking for payment, to help you build a _hospital._ That's ridiculous. Nonsense, nope, not happening." Tony stood up from the couch and stood near the doorway, hand on hips, eyes on the TV.

"My friend, you will receive payment, it does not have to be monetary in nature! Please, even if you simply observe the building, we are quite proud of the design. I shall arrange for places for your friends to stay, either in the palace or not; whatever you think they might be comfortable with. Ah! Who is this?"

Tony hadn't seen anyone come into the room, but was suddenly yanked backwards by his arm, out of the walkway as Bucky and Steve raced through the door, and through the area Tony had just been standing. Bucky leapt up, and landing on the dining table, holding the book high above Steve's reach.

"What on earth!" Tony blinked a few times, and turned back to look at T'Challa. "Are you alright my good Stark?"

"I-I, I'm fine for nearly being trampled by my own team mates, who are acting like teenagers!" Tony shouted the last part, as he looked back at the two men.

"Hey!" Bucky shouted, and Tony saw the book fly from Bucky's hands, to the vent that sat above the kitchen. It disappeared into the open grate, which was pulled shut by a string of web.

"You sound as if you are having a most exciting day! I look forward to your arrival! I shall send all information of your arrival time and entrance to your computer." Tony nodded, and said a weak goodbye to the King of Wakanda. When the screen was off, Tony looked at the two men; one of which was still standing on the coffee table.

"What the hell was that about!?" he shouted, and Bucky looked at him a very strange expression; mischievous. Tony was not at all okay with this look on Bucky, of all people.

"My book just got stolen, with a spiderweb."

"Yes, I saw that." Tony said, glaring at Bucky who climbed off the table, still grinning.

"My book, that I found on my desk this morning."

"Okay, and?"

"The book that _you_ left on my desk this morning." Bucky's grin grew much too wide, too happy, too mischievous and Tony almost fell over as he realised what had happened.

"Peter fucking Parker, don't you dare read that book!" Tony shouted into the air, and received no response. "Oh my fucking god, I've ruined him, he's ruined. I'm dead, May is going to find out, and I'll be dead." Bucky collapsed onto the ground in a fit of giggles again, holding his stomach with both arms. Steve looked confused, and a little worried for Bucky.

'It was a book about the war, Tony, it's just maybe a little violent."

"Yeah, maybe a bit too graphic, he'll be fine." Bucky said, between giggles.

"Hey, when did that get there?" Steve said suddenly, looking at the fridge; a sheet of paper had been stuck it with magnets. It was a colour drawing of Steve and Bucky playing baseball, with Tony in the background sitting in the shade, under a tree.

"Did, did the spider kid steal your picture?"

"Does it count as stealing if it's on the fridge?" Steve looked at Bucky, then the picture, rubbing his neck.

"You drew it, Rogers?" Tony asked, looking at the picture, a smiling tugging at his lips.

"Um yeah, Tony it-"

"It stays on the fridge."

Tony turned before they could argue, and the two soldiers headed back to the library. Steve sat back at his sketchpad, and saw it had been moved. He flipped open the cover and saw a very quick drawing of Himself, Bucky and Tony standing next to each other, holding hands. The words 'Best Friends' were scrawled above the characters in elaborate handwriting.

"For the fridge?" Bucky asked, grinning as he leaned over Steve's shoulder.


	8. Chapter 8 - A Hero of Wakanda

**Chapter 8**

 **A Hero of Wakanda**

The trip in the jet was quicker than planned, and they soon hovered above Wakanda, preparing to land at the palace. Tony had kept a close eye on Peter, making sure the kid didn't freak out; also, to make sure the shirt he was wearing didn't change at some point. A white v-neck, perfectly normal. The teenager was slumped in a seat at the back of the jet, reading a book, which no one had been able to read the name of.

"Do you think he'd read aloud to the class?" Steve whispered to Bucky, who snorted at the comment. They had gently explained what kind of book it was; Steve understood immediately why Bucky had been so amused, and why Tony was horrified that Peter had ended up with it. As mortified as Steve was, he was also very amused by the whole thing.

"Shut it, Rogers. We make no mention of the book, not until I've shredded it."

"Can I finish it first?" Tony glanced at Bucky, and shook his head, almost smiling.

"Only if Steve behaves."

The jet landed, and the team bundled up their luggage before leaving down the ramp. They were greeted by warm, fragrant air, and a dozen or so beautifully dressed men and women.

"Welcome guests of T'Challa." A woman approached them, a spear in her hands; she was gorgeous, and incredibly intimidating. "We welcome you to Wakanda, our king has asked I direct you to the throne room, please, follow behind." She said, turned and leading them down a flight of steps, and through a number of bright, beautiful hallways until they entered the throne room.

"Friends!" T'Challa shouted, warm and full of energy, as the bustled into the room. "I trust Okoye has not frightened you!" The woman rolled her eyes and directed the others from the room, closing the doors as the others left the room, and stood in front at the door, facing the group.

"Do not worry, she frightens me each and every day, I have simply grown used to it. I trust you are aware this trip is simply that, a trip, you are here welcomed by happy hosts and no need for concern, you are safe here." They thought over the words; the last name any of the group had been here, it had been after Siberia. They all nodded, a smile on everyone's face. "I must say, I was unaware someone so…young had joined your team."

Tony gulped, and realised Peter was no longer next to him. He cursed under his breath, and followed T'Challa's gaze to find Peter at an open window; he was practically half way out of the window, looking out over the city.

'Sorry about him, I did tel-"

"Aha, my friend! It is good he is so eager to explore! He will have all the time to do so after you have all settled, please follow Okoye to your lodgings. However, if you are so excited to explore, we arrange for your luggage to be taken now, while you explore." There was a chorus of no and of course not, and the group followed the female warrior to their rooms. The rooms were on one side of the palace, each one large and private, with an ensuite in each one. They were then corralled by Okoye, and taken to the town, to explore as they pleased. T'Challa and Tony fell into step with one another, and chatted about the construction; it was already underway, and huge cranes had been set up around the building site, as well as a number of scaffolds. Tony smiled at all the organised chaos; he loved building sites, he loved watching it all come together.

"The child." Okoye said, looking at Tony from the other side of T'Challa.

"Yes? Also, teenager."

"He is not like the others of your team."

"How so? Also, he isn't a part of the team. Technically."

"Then why did he come?"

"Because I feel incredibly guilty when it comes to that kid, and I always will, about a lot of things. This is… really, his first ever real holiday. Also, I didn't trust him alone in the Tower."

"The Tower for the team he is not a member of?"

"Okoye, please!" T'Challa looked at her, and she simply smiled.

The day continued, and everyone simply loved being in the city; they were together again for dinner, which was more of a feast, then stayed awake until late telling stories and enjoying the warm air. Steve noticed Peter had left the table, and was staring out of one of the windows, his hair blowing in the soft breeze.

"Tony, is the kid alright?" Steve asked, his voice low, and Tony looked over.

"I would say no, but I know that face." Tony shook his head. "He really, really wants to jump out of that window." Steve grinned and went back to the conversation, as did Tony after a little while. Eventually the group dispersed and went to sleep in their luxurious beds, in their simply extravagant rooms. The sun woke them the next morning, with bright, warm light that filtered in through the light curtains. They took their time getting ready at a relaxed pace they hadn't enjoyed in some time, before meeting on a balcony where there was a feast of breakfast food ready.

"You seem to be missing a part of you group!" T'Challa noticed, and looked at Tony, then Okoye, when he saw how distressed Tony was.

"The child has already left the palace. He asked if he was able to leave, and I told him as a guest he was welcome to and for the first time in my life; I believed that the ability to vanish was real." T'Challa clapped, and she seemed to relax her stance. Her grip on the spear loosened, just enough; she was growing more comfortable with the group. The group enjoyed their breakfast and headed back into town, enjoying another day in the sun, while Tony and T'Challa worked at the build site. The next day was much the same, and the group headed into town as normal, though Tony and T'Challa headed in after the others by a half hour or so.

"T'Challa, I recall you having a sister."

"Aha yes, Shuri. She was overseas assisting with some of the set up for our charity organisation before it is made public. She arrived back this morning, I believe she is already in town; she was eager to see the progress on the hospital."

"Ah, she helped design it?"

"Some parts of it, yes. She was away for much of the design period, but gave input where she could."

Steve and Bucky heard it first, then the others of the group; T'Challa and Tony heard it, as did Okoye, who was behind the two.

The moan of metal warping filled the air, and became a high pitched whine as the metal bent, and lost its structure. The support columns of the latest crane swayed, before buckling and falling into a mess of bent metal. T'Challa and Tony looked ahead, and saw the others, they weren't near the crane, however-'

"Shuri!" T'Challa shouted, seeing his sister beneath the crane, that had begun a rapid descent towards the crowded street. The King moved, quickly, as did Bucky and Steve as the three raced ahead; there were so many people in the street. The crowd dispersed, but Shuri was knocked over by the panicked masses, and fell against the ground.

"No!" T'Challa shouted, still running; the King of Wakanda was fast; so was Peter. Tony saw him first, then the others. The teenager was behind the group ; he leapt into the connecting his webslingers with another roof by a length of web, and threw as much of his own weight into the swing as he could. He threw another shot at a roof further down the road, and used this to pull himself threw the air, before letting go of the web, and landing beneath the falling structure.

"Kid!" Tony shouted, desperate.

Shuri looked up, and saw two feet in the dirt next to her, and someone standing above her. Peter's hands were beside his shoulders; the heavy structure resting against his back and shoulders, digging into his skin through the fabric of a green v-neck he had changed into earlier. He could feel warmth on his arms and neck, and knew that blood was trickling from a wound somewhere.

"Shuri!" T'Challa's voice hit the princess like a wall, and she felt a tug on her arm. Okoye pulled her from where she had fallen, and pushed her towards T'Challa, who caught her with both arms.

'Check for others!" Okoye shouted, and Steve and Bucky reached the crane, and quickly dropped to the ground to check beneath the mass of metal for anyone else; no one. The pulled themselves back up and shook their heads.

"No one, it was just her." Steve panted, and she nodded once. Peter must have heard Steve, as the metal structure gave a loud groan, of metal on metal, as it was lifted just high enough, so that Peter could push it up and behind his body, where it fell against the ground with a deafening crash.

"Peter!" Tony shouted, moving again; he had been frozen, watching it all unfold. He saw Peter hold his arms above his head in triumph before swaying, and falling to the side. Steve managed to catch Peter, and supported the teenager's body. Okoye gave a sharp whistle, and a group of four female warriors were quickly at her side.

"Two will go ahead of the group, two will go behind. You will stop anyone from slowly their path back to the palace." She ordered, and the warriors nodded, quickly finding position. Steve adjusted Peter, and carefully lifted the teen in his arms, and began the walk back to the palace.

"Huh." Clinted muttered to himself. Tony heard.

"Nothing Tony, not important."

"Distract me."

"Uhh, well, he changed his shirt." Clint said, loud enough for the others to hear. Tony looked ahead, and strained to look at the shirt Peter was wearing. It was until Steve readjusted Peter's body minutes later, that Tony caught a glimpse of the golden crown that was printed onto the breast pocket of the shirt; Loki.

"He's fucking with me." Tony said, plainly, and Clint gave him a pat on the back.

"Teenagers, man." Was Clint's response, and they soon came to the palace, but there was still some walking to the medical room.

 _So long to all of my friends, every one of them met tragic ends…_

Chaos, is all the Avengers could see as they made their way through the palace, following the female warriors that had been keeping their way clear. Peter hadn't moved in Steve's arms, and the blood coming from his upper body had dried to a sticky mess on his neck, shirt and his hands. They hadn't been able to find the sources of the blood yet, and it as eating away at Tony, as the walk seemed to never end. Finally, they emerged from a doorway, and entered what looked like a hospital room. It was clean, and white, and smelled of nothing but gentle cleaners. Tony looked around the room, and saw equipment that look familiar; he glanced back at T'Challa, who entered behind them, a hand still holding Shuri's.

"I had arrangements made for stark equipment to be set up when your friends were here originally, to make it easier to send you any health data if you needed it. He is your team, perhaps you would be more comfortable treating him yourself?" T'Challa spoke to gently, so matter of factly, and Tony appreciated the hell out of it. Steve found the medical bench in the middle of the room and lowered Peter onto it.

 _I'd be lying if I didn't say , that I miss them all tonight…_

"Two outside, watch the doors." Okoye ordered, and two of them women left the room. Bucky followed as well, and joined the warriors as they closed the doors to the room, and kept watch.

"Your frien-"Steve watched as Bucky slipped out of the room, and felt his chest ache. This room was far colder than anywhere else they had been on the trip.

"He's doing us a favour, potentially." Tony said, as he pulled equipment closer to the table and got to work, with Bruce walking over to help, the two of them falling into their familiar roles. The two men worked, and ignoring all signs that pointed to the worst case scenario; set about making sure Peter would wake up.

 _One day I'll lose this fight, as we fade in the dark…_

T'Challa looked at Steve, who caught his gaze.

"The boy, he is like you, and your friend?" The King asked.

"Nope, nup, no way. A kid, a teenager, not a soldier." Tony said flippantly, though the finaly words held something serious to them. Bruce looked over at Okoye with wide eyes.

"Did he eat this morning? Anything at all?" He asked, and Okoye paused for a moment, recalling that morning. Peter had rushed out, excited for another day in the city. She had scolded him playfully for skipping breakfast, and he had given a lopsided grin in return, ate a quick plate of food, before making his escape at last.

"Yes, a small meal. I had somewhat insisted on it." Bruce and Tony visibly relaxed at her words, and continued to work.

"But Brother…"

"No Shuri, let them work. "

"But, he is so injured, how can you say-"

"We do not know what may injure him more, sister."

""But he is like them, and it wo-"

"He isn't!" Tony shouted, apparently having heard the conversation. "He is a teenager that I dragged into this mess, a teenager who has a sick desire to help people no matter what, and a teenager who wears shirt specifically to piss me off!"

 _Be strong and hold my hand…_

A pained chuckle came from Peter; in pain, weak, but definitely a laugh. Bruce leaned over Peter, while Tony stood frozen at the sound, he could see that Peter's eyes were partially open.

" _Did Clint see it?"_ Peter wheezed out, between pained breaths. Bruce gave a nod, and Peter let out another weak laugh. His eye fell shut again, and he fell back into unconsciousness. Bruce gave Tony a gentle nudge on the arm, and they went back to work. They carefully cut the green shirt away, and looked at the wounds. The metal structure had pushed down on his skin, puncturing it with sharp pieces of metal that had twisted apart. The wound ran across his shoulders and the back of his neck, as well as his forearms and hands, where they weight had been the most. There was a commotion outside the doors, and Steve caught Okoye move her spear in a position more suitable for a fight, and the doors flew open.

"You will let me in; so help me!" Came the voice of a woman, even more powerful in presence than T'Challa. A soft sob came from Shuri, as she ran to her mother, who wrapped the young girl in her arms.

"My sweet child, both of you, are you alright?" Ramonda asked, her voice heavy with concern, as she held her daughter close.

"We are find Mother, who sent you?" T'Challa gave his Mother a tight embrace, who seemed to ease somewhat. She kept Shuri close, and pulled the girl closer when T'Challa steped back.

"Okoye had someone send word, so that I could arrange for warriors to check the scene, to ensure no one one had been…caught…" She cleared her throat and looked to Steve with a gentle smile.

"Thank you, my friend. You and your warrior friend."

"Um, thank you, but why?"

"For catching the crane, you fool! Who else of you is powerful enough, besides the two of you. I am aware you have somewhat of a god as apart of your team, but he did not come with you!" Ramonda scolded Steve, ready to tell the man off for being so humble.

"Mother! It was not the men, nor was it his enhanced friend." T'Challa explained, not ready to see his Mother scold anyone.

"Mother, really, it wasn't." Shuri said, catching her breath, her tears had eased somewhat.

"Then who?" She demanded, and followed the gaze of everyone, to the bed that Bruce and Tony were busily working at.

 _We'll say goodbye today, and I'm sorry how it ends this way…_

Ramonda took slow steps to the bed, her heels tapping against the tiled floor of the room; and gasped when she saw Peter. A young boy, covered in dirt and dried blood; eyes shut as he fought for consciousness.

 _If you promise not to cry, then I'll tell you just what I would say…_

"A child." She whispered, and no one corrected her. "He is but a child! Shuri, this is him? Who saved you?" Shuri gave a nod, and the Queen Mother of Wakanda shook her head.

"I shall arrange for a new living quarters for him, for the remainder of his stay. Okoy-" The speared general stepped forward and nodded.

"It shall be arranged." With that, both women left the room, leaving a bewildered team of Avengers behind them. Eyes turned to T'Challa.

"The young, in my mother's eyes, has become a hero of Wakanda, and thus, deserves a hero's stay." Tony's heart sunk; the kid was gonna freak.

"But-"

"My friend, it is either he be named warrior, or protector, warrior is the far less…grand of the two. I shall arrange a fresh set of clothes for him, he is under no obligation to wear them, but the fabric may be more comfortable during his recovery." He nodded, and left the room, Shuri behind him. As the two left, Shuri gave a final worried glance back at Peter.

 _Never let them take the light behind your eyes, I'll fail and lose this fight…_

 _ **Thank you, again, to everyone reading!**_

 _ **KHARAKI TAKAN – Yes! I definitely want some Shuri and Peter scenes, I just need to decide on how I'd like them to interact. I don't want anything romantic between them, so I need to figure out how to have them speak to one another. I'm almost tempted just to have him start hide and see again.**_


	9. Chapter 9 - How To Say Thank You

**Chapter 9**

 **How To Say Thank You**

It was that night, close to eleven o'clock, when Peter regained consciousness. He sat upright in the hospital bed, breathing rapidly, as he woke from a nightmare. He had dreamt of not making it, of not being quick enough, and seeing the crane crash into the ground in front of him. He had tried to shout for people to move, but no one heard him, and no one seemed to see the metal structure as it fell. He scrambled in the hospital bed until he was free of the covers, and pushed his body against the mattress, trying to will his muscles to let him up. His muscles fought back, not wanting to move, and with gritted teeth, Peter thought to himself. _Fine._

Rather than attempting to will his muscles into obeying; he forced them. Peter pushed his hands against the mattress and ignoring the pain in his palms used his hands to push his body up, so that he was able to swing his legs off of the bed, and hung them over the side of the mattress. He saw a side table with a pile of fresh clothes, and realised that he was only wearing his shorts from earlier, his shirt had been removed. He threw himself from the bed, ignoring any pain in his body, and quickly changed into the new clothes. They were a set of simple sweatpants, and a plain v neck shirt but good god; they were so _comfortable._

Peter smiled weakly at the new clothes, before leaving the room. He looked down the hallway to make sure there was no one there, before heading down the direction his feet took him. His body had gotten good at finding food, no matter where he was, and he knew that's where he was headed. He found a large wooden door, and pressed a hand against it, pausing when he felt a tingle in the back of his neck; _run._

Peter spun around to see Steve, and Bucky, standing in the hallway behind him. It was a dead end hallway; he was stuck if the door didn't open. Peter's entire body began to tingle, painfully, as it sensed what was happening. Peter felt his feet press into the floor, and he began to think of the best way to get past them, if he had to.

"You know Bucky, strangest thing happened tonight." Steve said, looking at his friend.

"What's that?" Bucky asked, with an eyebrow raised.

"Well, I went to check on Peter, and he wasn't in his bed but good gosh, I can't find him anywhere." Steve said, his face completely serious. Bucky gave a nod, expression equally serious, except for the smirk he was trying to hide.

"Oh yes, how strange. In a place like this, it would take us a few hours to find him."

"I agree, we'd better keep looking." Steve said, the two nodded and turned. They walked back down the hallway, and turned a corner; they were out of sight. Peter felt his body deflate. What had just happened? He shook his head, and gave a hopeful push on the door and was delighted when it opened slowly, with no sound. Peter ate a handful of berries that were in a bowl on a large wooden table; which sparked something in him. A wave of huge crashed over him, and he picked at bread, more fruits and eventually found a neat stack of dried meats in one corner. Peter was a mess of guilt, and an almost alarming feeling of starvation, which didn't seem to ease as he ate. None of the food was dense enough for his stomach, it wanted something more, something warm.

The door opened, and Peter felt the same tingle in his neck telling him to run, but instead of Steve, Bucky or anyone else of the Avengers, Shuri came through the door. She saw Peter, and smiled gently at him as he put down the piece of bread he was ready to demolish.

"Sorry, you must be one of my brother's guests." She said.

"Er-yeah, I guess. Sorry, we haven't met." Peter said.

"I have been overseas, I've not been back long. Are you hungry?" She asked, and Peter nodded sheepishly.

"I was a little too busy exploring, and missed dinner. I woke up starving."

"The fruit and berries are not enough, sit down, I can make you something more filling." Peter was set to argue, but was ushered to a table by Shuri, and minutes later, there was a bowl in front of him. She gave him a gentle nod goodbye, and left him with what looked like a bowl of oatmeal with berries on top; it was similar to oatmeal, but much better. It was much more flavourful, with a nutty backing flavour, that the sweet berries did a job of balancing out. Peter finished the meal, and looked to see if there was anymore of it, disappointed when there wasn't. He found a sink and quickly washed his bowl, before placing it with another pile of dishes that had been to dry overnight, and made his way back to the medical room. He entered the room, to find Steve and Bucky standing near the bed, mid argument; each man had a shirt in hand, Steve was holding a red and Bucky was holding a blue one.

"Err…" Peter wasn't really sure what to do.

"Peter!" The two men saw him and shouted the name; Peter was ready to run then.

'Why are you-"

"Pick a shirt." Bucky said, and held the two shirts out to him.

"No you're just pressuring him. Do what I said and leave them here, then he can pick later."

"There's a reason your name is Captain America; not Captain Fun." Bucky said, and Steve looked over, ready to fight.

"Shut it, pfeffernüsse." Steve spat back, and the two fell into another argument. They threw the shirts onto the bed, and left the room, still muttering an argument. Peter shook his head and climbed into the bed, and looked down at the shirts. He pulled them up and looked at them. He smirked down at the fabric, when he saw the logos. The blue one was quite obviously, Captain America, with a circular shield on the breast pocket. The red one was also very obvious, Iron Man. Peter grinned at the fabric, and wondered something. He got out of bed again, and went for another walk; he was much too restless to go back to sleep. The next morning, Peter joined the others for breakfast in a large dining hall. He felt everyone's eyes on him, though the reasons why differed. He had decided on neither of the shirts. Clint, Steve and Bucky all had eyes on him. His shirt was a solid black, which they all frowned at, until he turned around to get a plate from a side table. He slowly filled his plate with food, making sure they had time to see the design on the back of the shirt.

"No way!" It was Clint who shouted; he had realised it first. The symbol was a circle, with almost metallic silver bars that ran across the shape, a small gap between them. In the centre of the circle, was a red star.

"I don-"Bucky started, as Steve said. "I don't know who-"

"It's Bucky!" Clint shouted, and began laughing. Natasha looked over and understood, falling into laughter along with Bruce. Tony looked almost amused, simply due to the faces Steve and Bucky were making. Steve was confused and Bucky looked mortified.

"Me?"

"Do you see anyone else with a red star?" Clint said, laughing.

Shuri came in through the door, and paused, confused by the laughter.

"Umm, did I miss something?" She asked, looking at her brother who shrugged.

"We both seem to have. Apparently the young man's shirt is very funny."

"His shirt? Oh, I helped him with it last night." Shuri said, sitting down next to her brother. She jumped a little in her seat at the speed everyone looked at her, spinning in their seats.

"You helped him?!" Tony asked. Why was everyone working against him?

"You've met him properly? Good! I trust you gave your thanks." T'Challa said, and Shuri looked away.

"Uhh…"

"Thanks for what? She made me food, I said my thanks by the way. I think."

'Shuri! You didn't give thanks!? After the young man saved you!" Ramonda had come into the room, and had heard the last part of conversation.

"Oh no." Tony mumbled, and Clint agreed.

"I what?" Peter was confused. Who was this lady? Who was the girl?

"Shuri is my daughter, T'Challa's sister and you young man, are the one who prevented her from being crushed by a crane." Ramonda explained, and watched as Peter's face morphed from one of confusion, to one of distress.

The avengers almost expected what happened then, but their hosts were certainly shocked when peter stood up from his seat in a sudden burst.

"Kid!" Tony got up, as did Clint. Steve and Bucky were the closest however, and reached out, but Peter was quick to jump to the side, and turn towards the door, and took off at a sprint.

"He's still healing!" Bruce shouted, and Steve and Bucky knew, and made chase. They watched as the doors opened by chance, and Okoye walked into the room, six of her warriors behind her. Peter dropped and slid along the ground between the legs of one of the ladies, shouting an apology after him as he raced down the main hallway of the palace.

"Sorry!" Bucky shouted as him and Steve bouldered their way past, and followed Peter. Everyone had followed, not to try and catch Peter, but to watch. Peter had a start but Steve and Bucky were faster, and weren't injured. Peter seemed to be aware of this, and looked down the length of the hallway, noticing a large window and balcony that ended the hall. No one had noticed the slim webshooters on Peter's wrists in the dining hall, but Steve had just noticed, and shouted at Bucky to hurry up.

"Ah! They will be able to catch him; the hall is close to ending." T'Challa said, and was confused when the others did not agree. The crowd of onlookers, which Okoye and her six warriors had joined, watched as Peter shot out a web from each wrist, catching the two top corners of the large window. Peter gave a final burst of speed, then pulled had on his webs, and raised his feet from the floor. He shot forward, through the window, and out over the balcony, and into the air outside the palace. Steve and Bucky skidded to a stop at the railing of the balcony, and watched as Peter swung from the roof of another tower of the palace, and disappeared behind it, only to appear on the pointed roof of the tower a few seconds later, giving a wave to the two men on the balcony.

The two men walked back into the hall, and saw the group that had been watching the scene unfold.

"No one else felt like helping?" Steve asked, raising an eyebrow as they rejoined the group.

"How are we meant to help?" Clint asked. "He was, wow, that was fast."

"That was amazing!" Shuri couldn't contain herself again. "You said he wasn't like them!" She said pointedly, looking from Tony to Steve and Bucky.

"Technically speaking, he isn't." Steve said, looking guilty.

"He stopped it from falling, mid air, my friends I understand you know the young man more than us but, it seems to be a load of nonsense to say he isn't like your soldier friends." T'Challa stepped in, and gave Shuri a look, that she seemed to smile at.

"Technically speaking; he isn't. Steve was administered the serum willingly, Bucky was not, heck I don't even know if his serum was the same, but it gave similar results. The kid is…he's a mess of DNA, both his own and foreign." Tony said, as the avengers, T'Challa and Shuri made their way to the medical room Peter had been in. Tony pulled up some of the data Bruce had managed to collect from the tests on Peter. T'Challa looked over the data, frowning, then smiling, then frowning again.

"His DNA, it is a mix. He is part arachnid?" He looked at Tony and Bruce, not seeing the smug looks on the other avengers face at the king's choice of word.

"Yes, a little radioactive spider bit him, and instead of that killing him; it turned him into a sort of dumbed down version of my soldier friends. Except it's not really dumbed down, it's just… so different, and so similar, it's very annoying. We managed to talk him into some basic tests but, at the tower we haven't got the proper facilities to do a real test. Bucky did all his testing at shield, and the kid isn't going near them." Tony rambled, but T'Challa nodded along, and finally, thought for a moment.

"I believe we would have facilities capable of running the tests you would like. We used them when your friends stayed us the last time, they proved most helpful."

Bruce and Tony looked like children; with big happy smiles and wide eyes.

"Have you any idea how much he can carry?" T'Challa asked, as the team dispersed, the King and Tony headed to the construction site again.

"A building, roughly." Clint said, as he darted away, and fell in step with Natasha as the two went to explore again.

"What? I am confused."

Tony groaned, and looked at the King. "A building collapsed on the kid once, and I found out like, a whole day after it happened." The crane had been cleaned up, and the street was busy again. Tony and T'Challa set to work, while Natasha, Clint and Bruce explored. Steve and Bucky had found a sunny area near a small field, and had settled down so that Steve could draw, while Bucky read a book. Steve knew it wasn't the greatest idea to draw it, but it had been impressive when he thought back on it. He began the drawing of Peter, suspended by his webs, as he shot out through the window. Steve took care on this drawing, he wanted it to be a good one.

"Hey, he's reading my book!" Bucky shouted suddenly, alarming Steve. He looked to where his friend was pointing, and saw a large rock at the top of a nearby hill. Peter was on top of the rock, perched comfortably, reading the book he had taken from Bucky. Steve smiled, and the two of them went back to what they were doing; Steve decided he could finish the action shot of Peter another time, instead he started a drawing of Peter comfortable on the rock, reading. He glanced up at Peter now and then, and added little details to the picture; the flowers beneath the rock, how the sun sat overhead of Peter. After some time in the sun, whee they were so incredibly comfortable, Steve and Bucky dozed off; and awoke later, when footsteps in the dirt nearby woke them up. Bucky's book was sitting next to Steve's sketch pad on a rock, and a new picture had been added to the sketchpad, on a fresh page. It was stick figures of Steve and Bucky looking at a stick Peter with wide eyes, and a stick tony looking very cross at stick Peter's Winter Soldier shirt.

"Oh definitely for the fridge." Bucky grinned, and the two made their way back to the palace. The afternoon was fun, and dinner was again a fantastic feast; everyone was in good spirits, even if Peter had not turned up for the meal. It was after dinner, that T'challa found Peter.

Peter had gone exploring behind the palace, taking in the grand gardens that covered the grounds. He had found a small stone archway and decided to follow it, and the small path that lead through it, until he found himself in a small circular garden, lined with stone walls that came up to his knees, though many had begun to crumble. The stone walls were peppered by thick vines, and smaller vines covered in flowers, that grew up and around the stone walls, eventually tapering off onto tree trunks, and carrying upwards towards the sky. In the afternoon sky, beneath the most gorgeous sunset Peter had even seen, he could see that the inside of the circle where he stood was thick with green grass, and bright red flowers that sat atop skinny stems. He couldn't understand how the flowers did not topple over from the sheer weight of their blooms but he thought that the flowers were magnificent.

His neck tingled, and he turned to see T'Challa standing at the entrance to the little garden. Peter expected anger but the man was smiling; it was a pleasant, warm smie.

"Ah child, it is good to see you." The man said, stepping closer. "It is good to see your recovery has gone so well; Dr Banner has explained your healing to me." Peter's eyes widened, ready to run.

"Did he? Why?"

"I am unsure, the man rambles almost as much as Mister Stark; it is quite humorous they are together."

"They do get carried away sometimes."

"Yes, and it amuses me greatly. Have you enjoyed your exploring? It is odd you have found this little garden, it is more hidden than the others."

"Oh sorry, I didn't know if I wasn't all-"

T'Challa smiled, and held a hand up to stop Peter from talking.

"You ramble as well, relax my friend, you are welcome to visit the garden."

"I-it's nice, the flowers don't like right though." Peter said, looking down at the flowers; he crouched, wanting to look at them closer.

"They are a strange flower, and a sad one. I believe you have a similar flower outside of Wakanda, the poppy? These flowers are much the same, they grew where blood is spilt during battle. If they are found after a battle, they are moved here, to grow in peace." T'Challa looked at Peter, who was now frowning at the flowers.

"Do the flowers die, like, do they wilt?"

"In my time, child; I have never known one of these flowers to not be full of life." T'Challa gave a nod, and turned to leave before stopping. "You are much like, Mister Stark."

"Is that good? I never know."

"I am unsure, it depends on what ways you are like him; do you also refuse payment, or thanks?"

"Umm, if you asked him, yes."

"If I asked you?"

"Also yes."

"My friend." T'Challa said, turning his head to look at Peter. "You saved the life of my sister, and would have saved the lives of others had they not moved quickly enough. You are a hero to us in Wakanda, think over it my friend, if there is anything you can think of you'd like as a thank you from us."

An hour later, Peter thought of something, and found T'Challa, to discuss it.


	10. Chapter 10 - Not Welcome

**Chapter 10**

 **Not Welcome**

Bucky was very confused when he was asked to meet Tony, Bruce and T'Challa the next morning, and he was even more confused when the meeting took place in the palace's war room. Bucky and Steve entered the room, and heard the heavy doors close behind them.

 _Don't panic._ Bucky told himself. Steve was there; it was safe.

They sat at the large table in the middle of the room, where a tray of cakes and a jug of freshly brewed coffee sat. Tony was busy making himself a coffee, muttering to himself about shirts.

"Welcome, friends! Thank you for joining us." T'Challa greeted them warmly, sitting at the table. The room was warm as well, and Bucky was thankful.

"Yes, hello!" Tony said, as if he hadn't been aware they were coming. "Anyway, let's get started. Quick, quick." He said, clapping his hands, and a screen lowered itself from the ceiling at one end of the room. The noise of the screen startled Bucky, but he felt Steve's hand grip his knee, and he settled.

 _Safe._

"Anyway, we all know I have a lot of stuff. Like, a lot, too much BUT T'Challa also has a lot of stuff, and some of it, I don't have." The screen came to life, and displayed a set of blueprints.

'What…" Steve said, as he took in what was on the screen. It was Bucky's arm but, different; it seemed to have been tweaked, and played with. The blueprints showed multiple angles of the mechanical arm, even some moving diagrams, to show the movement of the appendage.

"Stark, you've already improved it. Leave it." Bucky said, gritting his teeth.

"No! I made it functional, I made it so it didn't try and kill you. This, will _be you._ This arm, is one hundred percent, designed for you, and only you. It is not something mass made, you will never face, or fight, anyone with this arm; or anything like it." Tony was up now, standing the screen like a kid at show and tell. "I needed something, resources that only Wakanda has but, was I going to ask? Hello no! How about I ask Natasha not to swear at me in Russian while I'm at it? Anyway!" He said, and the screen changed, to another set of sketches, these ones messier, as if scanned off of a napkin. Steve suspected they had been.

"I have offered a number of our resources to Mister Stark, in order for him to create this for you."

"Yes, and you won't tell me why! I hate not knowing, ugh! I suspect I have a weasel in my midst but that's for another day!"

T'Challa smiled at the group and sat up in his seat as Tony and Bruce stared at Bucky.

"What?" Bucky asked.

"We are not at all, making you do this. This is your choice, for us to make it, to test it, to give it to you. The surgery will be performed here, in a much nicer surgery than we could use at home."

 _Surgery._

Bucky went rigid; and Steve felt it. In the air, on Bucky himself, in the way Bucky held his jaw.

 _The surgery was a success; the asset is ready._

"So King, do we get to know why?" Tony asked, almost begging to know.

"Hmm, I was not requested to keep it a secret I suppose, so yes, you do." The King smiled, and looked at Bucky, then the others as he spoke. "I met Mister Parker yesterday, in our warrior's garden. I was surprised he did not run, though I suspect he very much wanted to. I asked him, if he would refuse a thank you as Mister Stark would have and he said yes. I told him, he is a hero here, and he could pick something he would like as his thanks; he came to me last night, explaining these blue prints and much to my surprise, requested his thanks be the resources to create this device." He gestured to the screen, and saw the blank looks on everyone's faces.

"He what?" Steve.

"Why me?" Bucky.

"I knew it!" Tony.

"Where is he?" Bruce.

T'Challa smiled at Bruce. "Your friend seems to have set himself the task of getting Okoye's spear. I haven't a single idea why, or what sparked it; but he has been following her from the rooftops since this morning.

"He's gonna get himself stabbed!" Tony shouted, and was not impressed by T'Challa's laugh.

"I have not told Okoye, though I have warned the others. He will not be harmed, if they can catch him. I was not aware how quick spiders are."

"Why me?" Bucky asked again, his voice weak; lost.

"He seemed very excited about the device, I imagine he had some hand in designing it. Something about a temperature sensor?"

Tony coughed, and looked at Bucky. "Er yes. After the medlab fiasco, Peter gave me an idea; it was a very good idea. It's a sensor in the arm, that will alert you to any significant fall in temperature around you. It can be a noise, a sensation in the arm or just an alert to Friday to counteract the change, so you won't get caught in the cold without expecting it." Tony was trying really hard not to bounce where he stood; which was difficult.

"I'll think about it." Bucky said, and left the table. He walked, until he was outside, and kept going until he was at the spot he and been sitting with Steve; as they read and drew in the sketchpad. Bucky took deep breaths. He let the air wrap around him; he sucked in the smells of the fields, of the flowers and the waterfalls that must be close by. He tried to relax, but a shout from behind him grabbed his attention. He saw a group of the female warriors, and Okoye, and Peter. Something was wrong, Peter was on his knees. Okoye was staring at the boy, before lunging forward, and stepping between one of the warriors and Peter. Bucky didn't realise he had moved, until he was at the group. He looked at Peter; knees in the grass and dirt, blood spilling from a wound in his lower chest, beneath the ribs on his right side. There was a smell of burnt flesh in the air; electricity. Bucky felt his legs begin to sway, but he didn't allow it to continue, he had to help.

"What happened?" He asked, half shouting at the group as he moved towards Peter; the boy saw Bucky, and good lord, Bucky knew that Peter would have run if he could. Bucky fumbled as he brought his hand to his ear, and pushed on the small communicator that Tony had asked them all to wear during the trip.

"Spiderkid's hurt, chest injury. Bleeding." He said to the device, and let go of the button. His eyes moved from Peter to the spear that the woman facing against Okoye held, the end of it hummed with electricity, or something very similar to it.

"He is no warrior." The woman said, spitting at the feet of Okoye, who didn't move. She held no spear, and Bucky saw one on the ground nearby. He took a deep breath, swallowed the anxious saliva that had built inside his mouth, and walked over to it with tentative steps. Eyeing the end that hummed, he grabbed the shaft of the weapon and lifted it. He knew he was shaking, but he took careful, purposeful steps back to Okoye and held the weapon out to her. She turned her head, to see the man with her weapon and gave a nod as she accepted it.

"Thank you, friend of T'Challa." She said, before turning her gaze back to the still angered woman. The other warriors had stepped back, forming a semicircle around the woman, spears straight, as they awaited orders.

"The boy has no respect; he walks in the warrior's garden! He is no warrior to the people of wakanda!

"We've got your location. On our way." Came a voice in Bucky's ear; it was fuzzy, and he couldn't place it.

"Bucky!" he heard behind him, as the woman moved. Bucky moved without thinking, as Okoye moved with well thought out manoeuvres. She slipped the dull end of her spear between the woman's legs and yanked forward, sending the woman falling to the ground as Bucky stepped in behind her and yanked the spear from her hands. Without thinking, and going purely by habit, he cracked the spear's shaft over his knee; it did not break in half, it splintered, close to breaking point, and crackled gently with dying electricity.

"Oh, shit." He said under his breath, as Bruce and Clint reached them.

"The boy is no child, he is not a warrior; he was named a hero to the people of Wakanda, and to it's royalty, by our royalty! He walked the grounds of the warrior's garden with our King!" Okoye shouted, as two other warriors stepped forward, and grabbed the arms of the woman who had attacked Peter. _Peter._ Bucky turned to see as Bruce reached Peter, and touched the boy; Peter screamed. It was primal sound; a mixture of pain, and fear. Bucky heard the anger, the anger at being injured, at not wanting to die. He knew it well, he had made it countless times himself with HYDRA, and during his first stay at Wakanda, during his deprogramming. To hear coming from a teenager, who still felt very much like a child to them, was something he would not be able to erase. He decided, he would not want to; he would remember this. Remember what Peter did for them.

Peter had fallen into a ball, curled round himself in the dirt and they could see the tiny arcs of electricity that danced along the boy's skin. It was a stupid thing to do, and Bucky would need Steve afterwards, but he leant down and lifted the boy, much like Steve had done after the crane.

"Bucky-" Clint tried, but stopped, it didn't seem worth it. Okoye lifted the broken spear, still humming, and held it out to Bruce.

"He was harmed using one of our spears, this one. Its internals are exposed; it shall be useful for you to study. Take it." She said, almost ordered; Bruce listened, and took the spear by an unbroken portion of the shaft, and nodded. "I shall return to you and your friends shortly, after we have dealt with the situation at hand." The men turned, and headed toward the palace. Bucky kept his eyes ahead, not daring to look at Peter; he could feel the boy's body tensing in his arms, as the electricity danced over his skin.

 _The boy suffers; kill him._

Bucky refused to listen to the voice. There were days he wondered if his metal arm truly had its own voice, today he was convinced of it. It nagged and hissed at him, wanting him to harm Peter, saying it would help; Bucky knew it wouldn't. He knew that the arm lied. It had taken a lot of work for him to know it, and understand it.

 _Help him as no one helped you before; end the suffering. He would thank you. You know what he is feeling, you begged for it to end. He would too._

Bucky ignored the voice, focusing on Peter's screams. They earthed him; they made him focus on why he was carrying the boy towards the palace. Finally, they made it through the medbay doors, where and found Tony and T'Challa, standing at a screen. Tony turned as they came in, his face full of joy.

"Welcome back team! Wondering where you ran off to. We were just looking at plans for Buck-"Bucky saw the joy fall from the man's face. "What the hell is this? What happened?! Oh my god, she actually stabbed him?!" Tony threw down the pen and pad of paper he had been holding, and ran over as Bucky practically threw Peter onto the medical bench. Okoye and two of her warriors entered the room, locking the door as they did. There were four other warriors, standing guarding outside the glass door.

"Okoye, explain yourself!" T'Challa shouted to the female general.

"He was attacked, in the fiel-"

"Attacked?! By who, what enemy of ours could get through the barrier?!"

"My King – it was one of our own." Okoye's words crashed over T'Challa and Tony; Tony was leaning over Peter, who was shaking as he held his hands firmly against the stab wound. Tony touched the boy's arms, wanting to move the hands, and Peter began to scream as he had outside. Tony fell back in shock, and Bruce quickly move into his place to check over Peter. He saw the spear on the bench nearby, where Bruce had thrown it. Tony walked over and looked over the weapon, which still hummed softly.

"They stabbed him so hard it broke?!" He shouted, turning to face Okoye.

"No sir, it was not from the attack."

"Okoye, what broke the weapon? The boy surely would not have een able to." T'Challa asked, stepping between Okoye and Tony.

"Your friend did, the metal armed one. He stepped in to assist in disarming the one who attacked the boy. He was the one to carry the boy from the field, while I dealt with matters."

"So why didn't you stop her from stabbing him?!" Tony shouted, stepping forward.

"The attack was not expected, and I held no weapon. The boy was successful in his…game." She said, her features softening at the mention of Peter's silly plan. Tony blinked, and looked at Peter.

"He… he actually got it?"

"Yes, on his first attempt. I was made aware of the game by my warriors, and saw no harm in the boy trying – we did not expect such immediate success."

"Okoye, call for my Mother, have her prepare a tea for the boy." T'Challa ordered, and Okoye nodded, before leaving the room.

"Tea?! He doesn't need tea, he need-" Tony was cut off by T'Challa.

"Pain relief. We do not have anything properly formulated for his system, now that we know he is like your other friends. We have a flower which when brewed into a tea, is a powerful pain reliever. It shall provide some relief for the boy while you work." T'Challa explained and gently ushered Tony to a seat, and helped the man to sit down.

"Sit my friend, collect your thoughts. You can not help him until the pain subsides." Tony nodded numbly; he knew the King was right, and he hated it. He heard the doors open, as T'Challa left and someone else entered, then they closed again. Tony noticed the two new figures through his blurry eyes; why were they so blurry? Why did his cheeks feel damp? Tony took in a shaking breath, and looked at the two newcomers; Steve and Bucky. Tony hadn't even realised Bucky had left the room. He saw that Steve was holding a small cup made of wood, which he handed to Bruce. Tony watched as Steve moved to Peter's head, while Bucky stood beside the boy. Steve wrapped an arm under each of Peter's armpits and pulled the boy upwards, so he was sitting upright. Peter's screamed became angrier, a more frightened, and so Bucky stepped in. He held fast to each of Peter's wrists, keeping them against the bench.

"No…" Tony heard himself whisper. "You'll hurt him."

Bruce stepped forward and pushed the cup against Peter's mouth, using his spare hand to hold the boy's chin still so that some of the liquid would flow into his mouth. The screams became garbled, as liquid filled Peter's mouth; he swallowed some during the struggle.

"This better work or we're just making things worse!" Steve said, his voice one Tony hadn't heard in some time; Steve was their leader. "Tony!"

Tony was snapped back into reality, into what was unfolding, by Steve's voice. He found his friend's eyes. "Worry later. Work now." Steve said, and let go of Peter. Bucky waited a few more moments before releasing Peter's wrists; the boy had stopped screaming, and had seemed to be dozing. Tony rushed to the bed, shoving Bucky aside without meaning to, and got to work. He fell into rhythm alongside Bruce, and the two busied themselves with checking the wound, before running a quick scan, and beginning treatment. Steve and Bucky moved out of the way but stayed in the room; they had no idea how long he pain relief would work.

As it turned out; it was awhile. Peter was still out of it when they finished treatment, and was moved to a hospital bed. The team took turns, sitting in a chair in the room, keeping an eye on Peter. Steve had argued with Tony, that Tony had to sleep. It was midnight, and he doing surgery tomorrow. Tony lost the argument, and stalked off to bed; he fell asleep within seconds on laying down. Steve settled into the chair with his sketchpad and pencils, and began his shift.

That night, at one o'clock in the morning; Peter had his first pain induced nightmare.


	11. Chapter 11 - A Gift From a Trickster

**Chapter 11**

 **A Gift from a Trickster**

Steve was alerted to peter's distress when a glass dish of small medical instruments was knocked to the ground; crashing against the tiles and exploding against the floor. Steve dropped his sketchpad as the noise flooded his ears; he looked up sharply to see Peter in the bed, having some sort of fit. The boy's eyes were shut, but a broken scream came from his mouth; it was incredibly weak. Steve rushed over to the bed, unsure what to do. He looked at Peter, who writhing in his sheets, his hands trying to get to the wound on his lower chest. He pulled at the fabric, and began to scratch desperately at the wound. Red marks began to appear when he had scratched the hardest, he seemed to be becoming desperate. As he was ready to call for help, Peter stopped, he calmed and a few moments later, he fell back into a peaceful rest. Steve moved back to the seat, and watched Peter, until he was replaced by Natasha.

Peter had three more of the fits; Natasha, Clint and Bruce all experienced one. Bruce called for more of the tea to be made, and they managed to get a small portion of it into Peter when he awoke from his worst episode. He was only awake for a few minutes, trying desperately to get Bruce away from him, but the tea worked just as it had the first time, and he fell back into another sleep; this one, free of pain. Peter slept through the rest of the morning, as well the next night. He woke the next morning, full of an agony he hadn't experienced before. He realised, he had, recently; the day before. He sat upright in the hospital bed, and he knew he was screaming; his throat hurt, it burned, but he couldn't stop _screaming._

He felt hands on his arms, and tried to shake them off. He needed to tear out whatever was hurting this chest so much; something was inside him, burning his skin and muscle as it made its way into his body. The hands tightened, and he fought back harder. _Why aren't they helping me?_ Peter thought to himself, he couldn't ask anyone, he couldn't stop himself from screaming still. He looked to his side, and saw a pair of blue eyes he didn't expect; he didn't want to see them. He hated how they looked at him, he hated the fear he felt building his chest when he saw them. There were footsteps in the background. _Yes, help me! Get rid of him!_

Steve was trying to be as gentle as he could, he didn't want to cause Peter anymore pain; he heard Bruce and Tony coming down the hallway, and he was sure Bucky would be with them. He looked at Peter again, and made eye contact. Peter's screams grew more intense, they reached a higher pitch, and Peter gave a shove that Steve didn't expect, as the boy sat up in the bed. The super soldier flew back across the room, and skidded against the tiles as he fell to the floor.

"Steve!" Tony ran over to the man who was on the ground, and knelt down. "Hey bud, you alright?" Tony was given a nod and a sidewards glance in response; good enough.

"Kid!" Tony saw that Peter had climbed out of the bed, and was standing on two very unstable legs; Bucky and Bruce moved as a team. Bucky jumped over the bed and landed behind Peter, grabbing the boy by wrapping his arms up and under his armpits as Steve had done previously. Bucky used his arms to keep Peter still, his arms pressing into Peter, as Bruce stepped forward and injected something into Peter's arm. Peter's legs gave out, and he lost their support. Bucky caught peter's weight, and gently let the boy drop to the floor. The room was silent, except for Peter's pained breathing. Two hours later, Peter, and the rest of the team were on the quinjet; they were set to land at the tower in less than twelve hours. Peter was curled up on a seat in the back of the jet; his breathing was normal, and he'd had no fits during his sleep after Bruce had given him the injection. Natasha and Clint were playing naughts and crosses on a notepad they had taken from Steve, who was watching the game. Bruce was looking over data that they had collected from Peter's stay in the medical room, and Tony was sitting in the driver's seat, of his self driving jet; he'd brought both legs up into the seat, and had rested one of his forearms against one of his knees, the other arm was busy using it's hand to hold a glass of plain lemonade. He had poured the drink as they set off, and hadn't taken a sip. He heard the chair next to his creak as someone sat in it, and he saw the side of Bucky from the corner of his eye.

"We got a message from the Tower. Thor dropped by while we were gone." Toyn sighed, he had spoken to Thor the day before, and had told the god about Peter. He didn't mention the crane, or anything else, all he could focus on was Peter. Thor had been, not happy to hear the news. It took awhile for Tony to calm the god down, and to convince him not to come to Wakanda. Thor accepted Tony's reasoning with a grumble, and said his goodbyes, he was visiting Loki. Tony did however, slip that peter had worn a Loki shirt.

"Really? He knew we weren't there." Tony tried to sound calm. He could do that.

"He left a gift for the spiderkid."

"Oh shit." Tony said, groaning. What the hell was in the tower? Tony let out a sigh, and decided he could be an adult about this.

"Tin man…" He heard Bucky shift, and knew the man was looking over at him; head turned, body pointing ahead.

"Stark?"

"Thanks." There he had said. So, why hadn't Bucky said something nasty, or walked off?

"What for?" Shit. Tony hadn't wanted to discuss it. He wasn't that much of an adult. No, he could do this. _Deep breaths._

"For helping."

"Steve was on the floor, who else was gonna-"

"Not that."

"Okay?"

"Everything. I know you're… I know there's something about electricity you don't like, and I figured it was a future thing, until Steve gave me a tiny scolding for teasing you about it. I didn't realise there was…a background reason to it, and I can kind of guess it now, which sucks, and if I'm right, it sucks you dealt with that. You just… you scooped him up, and carried him, while there was very visible electricity, dancing all over him." Tony continued; why the hell wasn't Bucky interrupting him? _Come on._

"He got me a new arm."

"Is that why you did it?"

There was a pause, then a "No." and then another pause. Bucky was fiddling with the leather armrest of the chair, and Tony's eyes fell to the movement.

"He screamed. I've heard that noise before; I've made that noise before. Electricity was the punishment, for the majority of my failures. His screams were so familiar. I knew the pain, and I wanted to help him – no one helped me, so it seemed…right." Bucky explained, before leaving his seat and going to watch the notepad game. He took Steve's seat as the man stood up, and took Bucky's seat next to Tony.

"I think that's the most words he's ever said to me." Tony said, finally sipping from his now warm lemonade. Steve smiled in response at Tony, playing with the same armrest Bucky had.

"The programming's gone but the buttons are still there." Steve said, looking out of the window.

"Huh?"

"It's what Bucky said, after he got Peter to you, and left. I've heard him say it before, but he never said it loud enough for me to really hear it."

"His HYDRA programming?"

"Yeah…he explained it to me after, when Peter was with you guys. The HYDRA programming isn't there, but some of his own is, he's always worried his own thoughts will trigger what buttons HYDRA left behind."

"Like?"

"Bucky was fighting with himself, the entire time he was carrying Peter; he wanted to mercy kill Peter. To help him the way no one helped him. He argued back, he ignored the voice, he focussed on Peter screaming which, helped for some reason."

"He-"

"Tony, I'm not telling you to be a gossip. I'm telling you, so you understand what he did. He didn't do it for the arm, or because he knew how it felt; he did it because he wanted to help. He wanted to feel like he could help the team."

"Right, okay."

"So don't be nasty about it."

Steve's words were calm, but Tony could hear the undertone, even if Steve didn't mean for it to be there. They passed the rest of the trip home chatting, even laughing a few times; it felt good for them both. The arrival at home was ordinary, and Peter had awoken on landing. He leapt from his seat, and as soon as the ramp had opened, he ran. The ramp was only half open when Peter dropped and slid down the ramp, jumping off the end and landing on his two feet evenly. He took a few steps and stopped, looking up at the flor that hung over the landing pad, an eyebrow raised.

"Someone's already here." He called back to the others, before running off and through the doors that took them into the tower.

"I wish I could recover from an injury with so much…energy." Clint said, smirking as the rest of them had to wait for the ramp to lower before they could follow after Peter.

"Does that include after being stabbed with a weird electrical spear?" Tony asked, eyebrow raised as the dumped their luggage on the couches in the lounge.

"I'm not answering that, there's no right answer." Clint said, and the two laughed. Clint was right.

'Friday's where the kid run off to?"

"Mister Parker is in the training room, Boss."

"Training room?" It's a little early for that." Steve said, and the team made their way to the lower floor that the training area was on.

"Mister Parker had detected movement, the guests he originally detected on the floor above you when you arrived, had moved to the training room."

They came into the room to see peter facing away from them, staring at the two gods who were in the room. He recognised Thor, but only had a suspicion as to who the skinnier man was; he looked vastly different without his gold crown. Thor had spotted Peter when the others came into, and held his arms high above his head; there was a large grin on his face.

"Ahh young friend! You seem to have recovered well!" The man's booming voice filled the room; Tony knew the kid's senses must be going nuts. Peter didn't move from where he stood, and Steve saw that Peter's feet were positioned for a fight.

"Umm good to see you Thor but why's he here?" Tony looked at Loki; the man was as skinny as ever, and his hair was still long and dark. He definitely seemed less...crazy than he had last seem him though. Thor had also told them about the many times he had faked being dead so, Tony supposed anything could be made possibly with magic.

"Ahh friends, my apologies, young friend! This is my Brother; you have not met him like the others have." Thor was still smiling; he didn't seem to realise what weight his words carried.

"Heard about him, nice to meet you." Bucky had noticed it too; Peter wasn't preparing to run. He was ready to fight.

"How nice to meet you to…" Loki said, an eyebrow raised, looking over the rest of the team.

"Peter." The boy replied; Ah, so he did have a name.

Tony noticed it too; he also noticed that Peter seemed to be angling himself so that his back faced Clint. He was protecting Clint.

"You know," Clint said, and Peter's body tensed. "I'm almost sad Loki doesn't have a sceptre anymore. It would've been something to watch the kid get it." He said, and peter could feel the man's smile.

"Can we not? The last time that happened, he got stabbed with electricity." Tony pointed out and heard Peter laugh. _Such a good sound._

"That wasn't a part of the plan." The boy said, his voice light but his stance didn't change. "Also, I got the spear, didn't I?"

"Do they always bicker?" Loki asked Thor.

"Usually it is the older ones, the young insectoid is usually hiding in vents."

"Insectoid?" Loki raised his eyebrows, and his eyes settled back on Peter; the boy looked very much human to the god.

"Explanation please! Why is he in my tower!" Tony had moved closer to Peter, not wanting the boy to have to defend Clint, of all people.

"I was asked to come help with a _present._ " Loki said, as if the word hurt to say. Tony blinked, Bucky started to laugh, and everyone else was silent. "Thor has left it in what he says is your sleeping quarters." Thor was smiling now, quite widely. Peter relaxed his stance, and turned. The group left the room, and while the group waited in the lounge, including Loki, Peter went to the guest room he had been using as his own.

"Uhh thanks, I did lose a shirt or two over our trip." He said, coming back with a plain grey v-neck in his hands.

"Looookiii, come on." Thor whined and with a sigh, the skinny god snapped his fingers together.

The fabric seemed to shimmer in Peter's hands, like oil on water, and after a few moments the grey faded and melded into a green, until the entireit of the shirt was a deep emerald green; the symbol of Loki's gold crown on the breast pocket. Thor nudged his brother again, and the fabric shifted, it changed again, and again, until it had faded through a colour for each and every member of their team, a logo for each colour; for each hero. There was even one for the Black Panther amongst the many colours.

"We made sure to include designs for friend Stark and our captain, since you seemed unable to find them elsewhere." Thor was smiling, proud of himself and his gift idea; Tony and Steve spluttered at the comment, but Peter was grinning.

"When you wear the item, you think of which…design you'd like to wear. It will not change unless you desire it to."

"Can I add designs?"

"You…would need to speak to me to do so, but yes."

"If you add Deadpool to that thing, I will find a way to destroy it." Tony said, trying hard not to show how confused he was by the whole situation. Peter laughed at Tony's comment, and looked at the two gods.

"Thanks, it's…it's great."

"My brother also asked me to make sure it would be not harmed in battle, as well as providing some protection for yourself; apparently you come to harm quite often." Loki said, his eyes moving from Peter to Tony, to Clint.

"You know, I'm less worried about the kid after seeing him from throw Captain America clear across a room." Clint said, eyes meeting Loki's.

"What?" Came from Peter, at the same time as "Clint!" from Bruce, Tony and Steve.

'Christ, kid, you were…in a lot of pain. You got messed up by someone who didn't appreciate your help in catching a fucking crane that was falling an-"

"So what you're saying is, catching buildings leads to me getting stabbed?" Peter was looked at Tony with a smirk.

"Will me saying yes stop you from trying to catch buildings?"

"Will me saying yes stop you from having Friday scan me every hour?"

"Um, fair, but in my defense, you did nearly die."

"I seem to do that a lot recently."

"I'm sorry but are you trying to tell me that this _child,_ caught a building." Loki's voice was one of disbelief, if a god knew such a thing.

"Teenager." Peter shot in response, no one had noticed him move away from the group. He was standing closer to the kitchen, near the dining table.

"He is a child! He is also, by sight along, the weakest of your team. How could you expect me to bel-"

Clint had also moved, and was standing behind Peter, on the other side of the kitchen, a knife in hand. Tony looked at Clint, silently warning the man if this backfired, he was _dead._ Clint knew, and grinned at the team from behind Peter. Clint raised the knife, ready to throw; but didn't get the chance.

Peter dropped an arm, and held it behind his back; a stream of web shot from his wrist and grabbed the knife, which he yanked hard on, disarming Clint. The movement was followed by Peter leaping from the ground, and landing upside down on the ceiling, where he pulled the grate open with one hand and climbed inside, pulling it closed after him.

"What…what in the gods was that?" Loki demanded, looking at the team, to see Clint frowning. "Agent Barton, are you upset you did not get to stab a team mate from a distance?"

"No, it's just…there weren't as many flips as normal."

"He must've seen you, or heard you, it'll be hard to show it now that the kid's run off." Tony said, also frowning; he almost wanted the kid to show off.

"Well! Someone he can't see should give it a go." Clint said suddenly, grinning at Loki.

"Umm!" Tony interjected. "No! Barton, I barely trusted you not to stab him by accident, I don't want him stabbed on purpose."

"Again." Bucky said from the back, and Tony sighed, then nodded.

"Christ…give him some time to rest, then go and scare him; don't blame me if you get thrown over a building or something." Tony muttered, and went to shower.

The team, especially Clint, were excited. Thor was grinning widely, and Loki had plastered a smile on his face; what on earth had happened?


	12. Chapter 12 - Do Spiders Like Ants

**Chapter 12**

 **Do Spiders Like Ants**

 _A child, he is but a child; how has he come to be amongst these people? Two of whom were frozen in time, one who is a radiative accident. The only two physically normal ones amongst this group are the two spies; the redheaded assassin and Agent Barnes. The child must be aware of my past with the team? His team, is he a part of the team?_

Loki was standing on the roof of the tower, staring out at the city, and the night sky; there were little stars visible. He had lost himself in his thoughts, when movement behind him caught his attention. Without hesitation, he cast magic over his body, ensuring no one would see him. Loki watched as the metal grate that covered a vent opening in the roof shook, then flew out from it's holdings; Loki ducked to avoid the metal grate, which landed on the roof behind him. The god watched, expecting Agent Barnes to emerge from the vent, or even one of the super soldiers; he had only learnt the term recently. He did not quite understand the meaning behind the name, he had almost asked, but felt he was pushing it. He did not expect to see the young boy from early climb from the grate, brushing off his clothes.

"Try better next time, Clint." The boy said out loud, smirking to himself. The boy was holding a hooded sweatshirt in one hand, as well as a book. Loki watched with interest as the boy sat on the edge of the rooftop, pulled the sweatshirt on, and settled in to read his book.

 _So close to the edge, it would be an accident. Such a silly spot to sit._

Loki took some steps closer, quietly, slowly.

 _No, you are lucky to be here – free of the cell; if only for a short time. You would not be able to keep running, not from this group; not if you hurt this child._

Loki stopped behind Peter, and felt the magic on his hand, ready to reveal himself; he would not have been able to harm the child, no matter how he tried in that moment. Peter suddenly moved, jumping and flipping over where Loki stood, landing on an air-conditioning unit behind the god. Peter threw the book as hard as he could, at what he knew was there, but couldn't see. There was a shimmer of light, and Loki revealed himself, holding the book that had struck his chest. Loki could feel the magic nearby; the boy was wearing his gift.

"You wear something, that I had a hand in creating?" Loki was surprised.

"It was a gift."

"From what I've heard, you don't like gifts."

"You included yourself in the designs." Peter said, ignoring what Loki had said. Loki smiled; he was pleased the boy had noticed.

"I felt I had to; you must always leave a piece of yourself in what you create."

"Like Clint?" Peter was standing up now, Loki raised an eyebrow. Ah. _Agent Barnes._

"I already had a Loki shirt, anyway." Peter said, switching topics quickly. Loki had not been told that. _Why?_

"You have no worn it while I have been here."

"It got destroyed."

"How did that come to happen?"

"A crane fell on me." There was silence; Loki had thought they were joking.

"And a building, yes?"

"Well, the building collapsed on me, I got out though. The crane fell on me because I jumped under it."

"Do you often put yourself under things that could crush you?"

"More often than I'd like."

"I must admit, I'm a little confused; my brother calls you an insectoid, though the others always shout a correction at him."

"Arachnid?" Peter asked, and sat on the edge of the unit with a smile.

"Yes, what is the difference?"

"Number of legs; insects have six, arachnids have eight."

"Yes, but that doesn't explain-" The door to the rooftop flew open, and crashed into the wall beside it. Tony was standing there, hair and jacket blowing in the night air.

"Kid, suit up." Tony called out, and Peter jumped to the roof, landing on his feet without even trying.

"Why? You said-"

"Bruce gave you enough of an all clear. Friday is sending a location to Karen. Suit up and we will meet there, the others are getting ready too."

"What?" Peter was very confused, but immediately grabbed a duffel bag that was webbed to the side of the unit he had been sitting on. He ducked behind the unit and hid in the shadows as he changed; listening to Tony and Loki as he did.

"He's not bleeding." Tony pointed out, as if Loki had been unaware.

"I had no intention to cause him to do so."

"I'm fully aware Thor broke you out of prison, so that you could help with the shirt. I know if you contact him, Asgard will be made aware what has happened. So, I will not ask you contact him. Just stay here, don't break anything, and don't kill anyone."

"My brother is on his way back, to return me to my cell. I shall remain here only a few more minutes." Loki said, and Tony nodded. "You have collected a strange child."

"Teenager." Tony said, before ducking back into the door and running to get ready.

Peter came back around the corner of the unit, and stepped into the light; Loki could see the uniform. The fabric shimmered in the light, before fading to a matte finish; Karen had completed her calibrations, and had set a course for Peter's trip. It wasn't far.

"Nice chat anyway, Loki, Brother of Thor, whatever else it is that you do." Peter said, with a wave of his hand as he took a few steps to the middle of the rooftop; Loki raised both eyebrows. Peter hopped in place a few times, before falling into a light jog, then a run. Loki dodged to the side as Peter sprinted past him, and threw himself from the edge of the rooftop. The god stepped to the side of the building, and watched as the boy swung from a thin white rope, throwing himself through the air, becoming a smaller speck on the skyline as he swung away.

Loki, and the conversation from earlier fell from peter's mind as he swung away from the tower, following Karen's detailed directions. He finally dropped down, and found himself on the roof of the University of New York. The air was hot, and smelled of ash; the building him was vibrating softly. Peter's feet tingled, and he shot out to a wall of another building, and watched as an explosion shot through where had been just been standing. The building Peter was on trembled with the force of the explosion, and the force of the explosion that came next. It was smaller, but close to the first one.

"Peter, a message from Mr Stark." Karen's voice came, as Peter made his way back towards where he had been. He could see large banners hanging from walls and buildings; an expo, held tonight, that had only started an hour earlier.

"Go ahead Karen."

"The message is as follows…"Karen said, then the recoding changed to Tony's voice. "Go nuts, kid."

Peter threw himself from the building he had been holding to, and let himself forward towards the hold made by the first explosion.

"Karen, where's the highest concentration of people?" Peter asked, he had landed in a hallway of the building, it was full of smoke, and dust; broken pieces of roof had fallen through the hole, and had covered the floor.

"Estimation shos that the largest number of people would be in the hall one floor below where we are now. There are smaller clusters of people in other areas."

"Major injuries?"

"Yes. Numerous injured, some possibly fatal, emergency services are en route." Karen said, and Peter felt his mask tighten around his face; air filtering. Peter shot a web at a large piece of debris, and used the web to throw it up, and swing it back down against the ground, where it smashed through the already fragile flooring. The boy threw himself down the hole, and followed Karen's directions to the doors of a large expo hall. A large pile of debris had fallen against the doors, holding them closed; trapping anyone inside. Peter used his webs to quickly move some of the smaller debris, and a single larger piece before firing his webs at the two doors themselves. He braced himself before pulling, hard. The doors groaned, and Peter pulled harder, taking a step back to dig his heels into the ground. With a final groan, and a crack of splintering wood, the doors flew open. Peter let go of his webs, and raced forward, leaping over the debris that sat in his way.

"There is a door to the left, also blocked by debris; this would be the fastest entry point for emergency personnel." Karen said into peter's ears, and the boy responded quickly. He leapt over a group of people nearby, and repeated his actions with the second set of doors; they were heavier, but had less debris in front of them. Another, smaller, explosion came from behind Peter as the doors fell in towards him, then to the sides where they crashed into the ground. Peter quickly webbed a couple that had been sitting there, and pulled them away just in time to avoid them being crushed.

"We're on scene kid." Tony's voice came through the suit, and Peter smiled; help was here. The air was so warm here, he was sure there must be a fire somewhere close by, but he didn't have time to look. Peter began to help move the people to safety; many of them were trapped under debris, or too scared to move. Others ran, shoving others out of their way.

"I have located a subfloor beneath the expo hall. Three staff members are trapped, the electronic doors have lost function and will not open." Karen said, and Peter knew the message had gone to all of them.

"Shit, we're nowhere near there! Kid, where are you?" Clint said into the speaker, as Peter pushed a large piece of wall away from a group of people, who were quickly moved outside. by a team of firefighters.

"I-I'm near it, I think." Peter said, breathing deeply, before turning to the place Karen had suggested he look for, a staircase to his right.

"We're the closest to you, on our way." That was Steve, and Peter knew Bucky would be with him. Peter ran down the stairs, leaving the door off of it's hinges, leaning against the wall next to the doorway. He jumped onto the floor below, ignoring the lower part of the stairs and saw a large metal door. The walls of the room were glass, which must be strong, to still be intact. Peter looked at the door, and heard footsteps behind him. He grabbed one side of the door and tried to pull, and it didn't budge. He saw Bucky grab the other side and do the same, with no luck. _It's no good, it's too solid._

Peter looked through the glass, and saw a hole in the ceiling of the room, which he now realised, was a small lab. He could see a young woman sitting in a corner with a young man, there was an older gentleman on the ground nearby, his head bleeding. Peter made a mental note of the hole, before letting go of the door and running back the way he came.

"Kid!" He heard Steve shout.

"Be right back!" He called back, throwing himself up the staircase with his webs, and coming back to the floor above.

"Uhh, Karen!"

"Yes Peter?"

"Can you locate that room again but, you know, from up here?"

"Of course Peter. There is a door to your left, and then a hallway; the hallway has two doors at the end. If you go left, you will come to an office that sits above the lab. The door to the office will likely be locked however."

Peter ran, following the directions and quickly found the office. He smashed through the glass door, ignoring the shards that flew around him, and let himself fall down the hole, into the lab.

"Oh! Steve!" He heard Bucky, muffled by the glass. Steve had seen Peter land, alerted y the glass breaking upstairs.

"Karen, run scans on the people here." Peter asked, and heard a soft hum as Karen got to work.

"The two young assistants have received minor injuries, cuts and bruises; they may go into shock, so medical assistance is recommended. The man on the floor is Mister Scott Lang, and has suffered a head injury. Medical assistance required urgently." Peter nodded, and asked Karen to pass the directions to the room above to Steve and Bucky. Peter knew the two had received them when they turned and left the room.

"Move to the other side of the room, we'll get you out but I need a bigger opening." He called to the other two, who quickly moved to the opposite corner. Mister Lang, Scott, was in the middle of the room. Peter thought for a second before pushing one of the metal work tables over the man, as a make shift shelter for the time being.

"Peter?" He heard Steve call from above, and Peter jumped back up through the hole. Peter looked around for something he could use to break away more of the ground; he saw Steve's shield.

'Oh, perfect!" He said, and webbed the shield away from Steve's hands. He held the shield by it's sides, and brought it down against the edge of the hole. Small pieces of floor fell away, but made no real impact. His neck tingled, and Bucky took the shield when Peter brought it back up.

"We can do this, get them ready to move." Steve ordered; he was the leader, he wasn't letting Peter get hurt this time. Peter nodded, and dropped back down through the hole. He heard the two above him, and felt as small pieces fell over him, then larger pieces. He moved over to the two assistances, and checked them over so that Karen could scan more thoroughly. He moved back to the hole with them, and saw how much wider it was. He caught site of Bucky and Steve, standing to the side, ready; Bucky's arm was different. _Time to think about that later._

"How's the basement thing going?" Tony came over the suit.

"Fine, Karen said one of them was some guy called Scott something." Peter said and was shocked by the shout that came from the suit; Tony.

"Lang?!"

"Uh yeah, friend of yours?"

"Oh shit, is he okay? Oh my god I swear to god if he died for some ants I'll kill him a second time." Ton grumbled into the suit. Peter shot a web up to the ceiling of the floor above, and grabbed the young man, pulling him up and throwing him to Steve, and repeated the same with the woman, who he threw to Bucky.

"You say that; we saw an ant farm on one of the desks." Bucky said into his communicator.

'Are you serious?" Tony asked.

"Dead serious, it looked like one of those kid's toys." Steve said, as Peter dropped back down. His suit buzzed as it tried to filter out the smoke that begun to fill the room. A sound to Peter's left caught his attention; a soft beeping noise. "You two, out of that room!" Peter shouted, and he was glad that the two listened; maybe they had heard it too. Peter's spidey senses kicked into high gear, and without knowing what he was doing, he had jumped over one of the tables to the other side of the room, and shot more webs out, grabbing the man he now knew to be Scott lang, and the leg of the table Peter had put above him. Peter graned, and pulled hard, pulling Scott towards him, he grabbed the man and held him still, as the table flew towards them. Peter quickly hopped over Scott, putting himself between the man and the table, so that man was near the wall, and Peter caught the table just in time. He planted his feet into the ground, and held tight to the table with his hands; hoping the sticking power would hold strong.

"Kid! Steve and Bucky are out, where are you and Scott?!" Tony came over the suit, as the small device under the other table, exploded.

 _I want to leap over buildings, want to fly over the shores…_

The room shook. It was more violent than Peter had expected from the small device, but the room shook angrily; Peter heard glass shatter as beakers fell from their places and crashed into the ground. He felt, and heart, shards of glass and metal hit the other side of the table that he had used as a shield.

 _Write my name upon the sky, when you call me I'll be there…_

Peter's suit couldn't filter everything; he could smell the smoke, the the heat in the air, and now he could smell the chemicals that spilled from their broken containers.

"Peter requires assistance downstairs, there has been an explosion." Peter could barely hear Karen over the noise but he knew that message wasn't for him.

Peter thought for sure that the noise had to stop sometime, and the shaking of the building, and the screams he could hear from somewhere else in the building. Finally, it did.

 _I want to be the man that, saves the world…_

The room had gone quiet, and still. Peter could hear his heart beating in his chest, though it felt more like it was in his throat; the noise seemed to drown out everything else around him.

 _And here we stand, without a plan…_

Peter heard a groan behind him, and felt something shift rubbing against his foot. Peter looked behind him to see that the man, Scott, had regained consciousness. The man blinked a few times, and looked up as Peter slowly stood, pushing the metal table away.

"Hey…who…oh, hey…" Scott groaned as he tried to make himself sit up, but gave up after his arms decided they didn't want to co-operate.

"You're the…you were at the airport…you caught the shield, nice, good job. Yeah…"

Peter stared at the man; he had been at Berlin? Peter didn't know who the man was by his face, or his voice. There was a bustle of movement to the side, and Peter saw that a number of emergency crew had found the hole to the room, and were preparing to move in, ready to get Scott some treatment. Peter quickly moved out of the way, up out of the hole and made his escape before anyone could stop him. He had to be out of the way so that they could work, the man's head had been bleeding badly, it could be serious. Peter made his way out of the building, and back onto what remained of the roof of the building. The mask around his face finally loosened, not needing to filter the air for Peter anymore.

Peter let his legs collapse under him, and he sat on the roof of the building, looking over at the open area in front of the large hall, at the crowd of people that had gathered there by the emergency crews.

"You did it, kid." He heard Tony, and the man landed behind Peter, and stepped out of the suit onto the roof. Peter smiled back at the man, and looked back out at the crowd. Tony sat next to Peter with a groan, and looked at the crowd as well.

"Did what?"

"You saved them." Tony said, gently, looking at the crowd of people who had come so close to death tonight.

"Why did you get me to come?"

The question hung in the air; Tony's reason was selfish, and stupid, and was not very good. He felt guilty, and laid back against the roof so that he could feel the cold concrete though his shirt.

"I was being selfish." Tony answered.

"You're only ever honest if you've been drinking, do I have to call Pepper?" Tony gave Peter a light smack on the arm, not trying very hard; he might have to sat up again to do that.

"You've either been around Clint too much, or Bruce, or Rhodey. They're all banned; you're not allowed to be friends with them anymore." Tony said, but grinned at Peter's back as the boy looked out at everything. "You still scared of Cap?"

"You don't get to avoid answering my question by asking your own." Tony rolled his eyes at Peter, but still smiled. He gave a huff as he sat up again, and wrapped and around peter's shoulders. The boy stiffened at the touch, but relaxed after a moment. _Not a fight._ He told himself.

"I knew there would be structural damage, I knew there might be more explosions but, I knew just how many people would be here. You, kid, are very very good at getting people out of dangerous places; usually by putting yourself in their place. I also, wasn't aware that there were bomb in two areas on this gigantic place, so we all moved to the first location, and were confused when you weren't there. Apparently Karen got reports of the new explosions, knew there were more people in that area, and reset the directions."

Peter was grinning, at something outside the building; the man from the lab was looking around frantically, and rushing through the crowd.

"Is he looking for his ants?" Tony wondered aloud, seeing Scott as well.

They saw Scott run faster, shove a reporter out of his way, and scoop a little girl up off the ground, and held her tight to himself.

"Ah, his daughter." Tony realised.

"He has a kid?" Peter asked, staring at the man and little girl.

"Sure does, and that kid still has a Dad. Good job kid." Tony said, giving Peter a pat on the back.

 _ **Thank you Rose for the lovely review! I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter!**_

 _ **Again, any ideas for future chapters or scenes are welcome!**_


	13. Chapter 13 - My Favourite

**Chapter 13**

 **My Favourite**

It was a few days after the explosion at the campus, and after countless press reports, and interviews with the police; Tony was able to speak to Scott. The man had been cleared, by himself, and was home from hospital and now Tony was in the man's house; in his living room. Scott hadn't been expecting a visit, and had answered the door in his pyjamas, expecting the mailman, or a reporter. Scott had not expected Tony Stark; certainly not Tony Stark who holding a gift wrapped box. Tony had greeted Scott warmly, chattering as he edged past the man, into his house. Scott simply didn't have the energy to stop it from happening. He looked at the clock on the wall in the entryway; 7:05 in the morning.

Scott shook his head, and decided then and there that he needed a coffee. He headed to his kitchen, and set about getting his little French press ready; it had been a gift from…someone.

"Coffee, Tony?" Scott had called out, and was answered with "I thought you'd never offer!" from Tony, who was in his living room. Why was Tony Stark in Scott's living room?

Scott made his way to the living room with two cups of coffee and a packet of biscuits in hand. He set them out on the coffee table, before settling into the couch. Tony was sitting on the couch on the other side of the table, and happily picked up a biscuit and his cup of coffee, thanking Scott.

"So, not that I don't appreciate the company but, why are you in my house?" Scott asked, as he drank from his cup; hot, strong coffee flooded his senses, and everything felt okay.

"Why, I'm checking on my favourite ant themed good guy!" Tony said, smiling; Scott couldn't recall ever seeing Tony smile before, it was strange.

"I'm not your favourite ant themed good guy, I'm not your favourite anything, so; why the visit?"

"Oof, harsh Scott; to both of us."

"Stark…"

'Okay, Okay! I'll admit, it isn't my only reason for visiting, though it is my main reason. I wanted to chat to you about Sarah; the assistant who jumped in front of an explosion for you."

"That was…weeks ago now, Tony. Why are you here?"

"She has made a full, and marvellous, recovery. She is ready to head home." Tony smiled, and saw Scott frown at his coffee.

"She…her Mother contacted me, thanking me for giving Sarah the job but, medical costs were too much; Sarah was planning to find work elsewhere, to get paid well since assistant jobs don't tend to, so she could help her family pay it all off. I tried to…, they wouldn't take my money. I wanted to try and pay off some of it…"

"So it's very convenient then, the the hospital received an anonymous donation, with strict conditions it was to be used for, and only for, her treatments." Tony said, and Scott's eyes shot to look at him. "There is no debt, Scott." Tony said, plainly, gently.

He saw Scott close his eyes, just for a second, and let out a shaking breath. The man's eyes had become wet along the lower lids, and Tony was expecting Scott to say thank you, now get out. The man didn't though, he looked at his coffee again, and Tony saw a weak smile on the man's face.

"Thank you Stark, Tony; really. But, why anonymous? I'm not being rude but, wouldn't something like that be good for your company?" Tony knew Scott wasn't being rude, just confused.

"Because honestly, I wasn't sure why I was doing it." Tony lied. "Oh! I almost forgot, I was given strict conditions of my own." And Tony grabbed the gift wrapped box, and placed it next to Scott's coffee cup, that now sat empty in front of him.

"Tony-"

"It's not a bomb."

"I wasn- never mind, why are you giving me a present? I'm fine. I had a nasty head wound, but I'm fine, my team are fine, somehow." Scott knew exactly how.

"The gift isn't from me." Tony admitted, and felt himself smile as Scott lifted the box, and carefully unwrapped it.

"What…" Scott said, vice trailing off, as he saw what the paper had been hiding; an ant farm. Scott looked at Tony, holding the box up, almost frowning, almost smiling.

"I wasn't lying when I said it wasn't from me." Tony laughed. "Hey, do ants and spiders get along?" Tony asked, as if the question had just occurred to me.

"Wait, it's from the spider dude?"

"Yep. Something about there being an ant farm in the lab, and he was upset he couldn't save it. Something about trying to shield you from an explosion. He has very odd priorities, where he places an ant farm above him staying alive. It's very annoying."

That made Scott laugh, the loudest he had since the first lab accident. It looked like his other ant farm; the one his daughter had got him for father's day. She was so excited when she saw he had set it up in his lab; he had told her that the ants could keep him company when he was working.

"Um, tell him I said thanks. And thanks for, keeping me from exploding as well, that's a nice gift as well. Wait, why is he giving me a gift and not the other way around?"

"If you try, at all, to give him a gift; he will hide, and I will spend a week trying to find him so please, don't." Tony warned, and Scott laughed again; it felt so good to laugh.

"Also, another question. Do spiders tend to try and get themselves killed?"

Scott coughed on a laugh; what?

"Sorry, do I have the word 'spider' in my hero title as well, and didn't realise? Tony, I don't know anything about spiders!"

"They've only got two more legs, they're practically ants!"

Scott laughed really hard at that, it reminded Tony of Clint.

"Uhh, oh, I have an idea!" Scott said, and got up from the couch and left the room, to return a few minutes later carrying his daughter.

"Umm.."

"Sweetie, this is Tony." Scott said, sitting back on the couch. The little girl didn't look up, she had buried her face in the sleeve of her dad's shirt. "Tony came to talk to me, he was at the lab the other day, when Dad got hurt, yeah?" The little girl nodded, and peeked out at Tony for a second, before hiding her face again.

Tony leant forward, resting his elbows on his knees.

"Hey sweetheart, what's your name?" Tony asked, as gentle as he could.

"C-Cassie." She answered, looking out at Tony again, showing half her face.

"That's a nice name." Tony smiled, and looked at her. She looked so much like Scott. He thought of Scott, and how the man had held the girl after he was saved.

"Did you save my dad?" She asked. _Honesty._

"No sweetie, but my friend did. He got your Dad a present too." Tony said, showing her the ant farm that Scott had put down on the coffee table.

"Oh Daddy! You need new ants!" She said. Scott laughed, and kissed her forehead.

'Sure do kid, but first, we need your help."

'With the ants?" She asked, frowning.

"No sweetie, Tony asked me a question and I thought you might be able to help."

"Okay…"

"You know your big animal book?" Scott asked and she nodded. "have you read about spiders yet?" Tony had to laugh at the face the girl made.

"Yeah, they're gross!"

'Well, that's not very nice!" Scott teased and made a show of leaning in to her ear, and very loudly whispered. "Daddy was saved by _Spiderman."_

The girl's eyes became two huge circles, and she stared at her father, who nodded; as if she needed confirmation.

"What do you know about spiders, kiddo?" Tony asked; he was smiling; he couldn't help it.

"Well, they're gross and got a lot of legs. They eat little bugs, and some big bugs. I don't think they eat ants but they might. They live in lots of places, some even live underground." She paused, trying to remember anything else, but was unable to.

"It's alright sweetie, Tony was just asking for a friend at his company."

"Oh. Does he have spiders?" She asked, making the face again; she was not a fan of spiders. Not real ones anyway.

"He's got lots but, he has one that his super special one, his favourite spider. It hangs out in it's tank in his lab but, he can't get it to come out now. It's hiding."

She frowned at that. Tony said his goodbyes to Scott, and got up from the couch. "Nice to meet you Cassie." He said, and left to the front door. His hand reached the doorknob, when he heard footstep.

"Mister Tony!" Cassie shouted, and ran to him, grabbing the bottom of his coat so he couldn't leave; it was important!

"Cassie no grabbing! I can't afford to replace that coat." Scott breathed out as he reached his daughter. "Sorry Tony." Tony smiled, shrugging at Scott, and looked at Cassie.

"What's up kiddo?"

"My book said that spiders hide when they're hurt and scared." She said, as if that solved everything, and left again to go back to what she had been doing before Scott had got her. Tony stared after the girl. She might have solved everything.

"Tony, she shouldn't hav-"

"Scott, I have too many coats as it is, she can have this one if wants because, oh my good god. She just made the last six months of my life make perfect sense."

"She is not having your coat. Thanks for the visit Tony. And please, tell him thanks for the ant farm. I'll send photos when it's ready." Scott joked, and held the front door open for Tony.

"Scott please, actually send me a photo, or ten; it'd be good to see the reaction to it." Tony said, with a chuckle, and left Scott to enjoy the rest of his day. Tony stopped on the way home to get lunch and while sitting at a table in a little café, he saw three teenagers walk in; one of whom he instantly recognised.

"Oh no." he muttered to himself, as Peter turned and saw him. Ned, and who he guessed was MJ (was that right?) were behind him. Peter was ready to turn, when Tony saw someone shove past the teenager; elbowing him sharply in the ribs. Tony heard a hushed "Move, Parker.", and felt the desire to go beat up a teenager.

"Oh dude, we didn't know you had intern stuff or whatever today! You should've said." Ned said, looking at Peter. He hadn't seen what had happened.

"I don't, which is why I'm really confused." Peter replied, and saw MJ walk back to them. "Where'd you go?"

"Nowhere." She replied, and Peter didn't question it.

"He doesn't, it is actually, total coincidence we're all here." Tony said, and tried to think. "As it happens, I've been stood up by my meeting partner." _Good enough._

Peter frowned. "You have meetings today?"

"Had, and yes. Pepper told me off for leaving them all for her, so I said I'd actually do a few of the meetings for my own company and well, I got stood up."

"Oh dude, that sucks." The boy with Peter said and Tony saw Peter roll his eyes.

"You're all welcome to join me; keep an old man company for lunch?" Tony offered, and was pleased when MJ and Ned nodded their heads, and Peter pretended to groan, before nodding as well. Ned and MJ sat with Tony, while Peter went to order a drink.

"So, who's the kid giving Peter shit?" Tony asked as soon as Peter was out of earshot.

"That's Fla-" Ned started, but stopped when a ball of paper bounced off his head, onto the table. The three looked to see Peter standing at the counter patiently, rolling a second ball in his head under the overhanging edge of the counter.

"I think he heard you." MJ said, smirking at Ned.

"Heard what?" Peter asked as he slid into the seat beside Tony.

Peter grinned at the others, and the four of them sat together while Tony ate a lunch; MJ and Ned headed off, Peter ready to leave after them.

"Kid, quick chat? About the…ceremony." Tony hated it; he hated speaking, but he had been asked so nicely to do this speech, and it was for a good reason. Peter looked at Tony with a raised eyebrow, but said goodbye to his friends and moved to the seat across from Tony.

"What about it?" Peter asked.

"I was wondering if- hey, when did you leave the tower? You were there last I checked."

"This morning? You weren't home, I left a note on the fridge to say thanks."

"For?"

"Me staying with you?

"Okay…"

"Mister Stark, Aunt May is back." Tony could have screamed.

"W-what, when?"

"Last night, I've got all my stuff back home already, the guest room's tidy, so don't worry about it."

"But you-"

"Start school on Monday, today is Friday. Mister Stark, it was really nice of you to let me stay with you but, I missed May." Tony stopped himself from coughing, he knew it would turn into a choke. He saw the bag that Peter had been carrying with him.

"You go shopping?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I got May a present to say…congratulations." Peter was quiet; he hadn't really thought of mentioning it to Tony.

"What for?"

"She was away for work; it was a trial, for a new position and she got it. She's been talking about starting a little flower garden on the balcony for ages, apparently gardening's good for stress? So, I got her a book about apartment gardens." Peter was smiling, thinking about his Aunt.

"Oh wow, Pete…I-I'm sorry…god it just…"

"Mister Stark really, I haven't properly said thank you but, really, it was really nice of you to help out."

"Are you still going to intern?" Tony finally asked. Peter was silent, fiddling with a napkin without looking at it.

"I don't know, Mister Stark. I, there's something about being there that… I don't know."

"Is it Steve? Bucky? Peter-"

"I guess? I don't know, it's not their fault. I just…"

"Peter, if you ever decide I the future, you want to come back, tell me. Turn up to the tower and let yourself in. The intern is an open invitation to you and no one else."

Peter smiled, looking at the table, tears stinging his eyes; he wouldn't cry. Not here.

"Are you gonna be at the-" Tony wanted to change the topic.

"Ceremony? Yeah, it's a day I only have a half day at school so we're gonna go along and watch." Peter smiled at Tony and for the first time, he looked like the teenager he was meant to be. Tony sat silent, as Peter finished his drink and packed his stuff into his backpack.

"I'm glad." Tony said, and Peter smiled, before turning and leaving. _I suck._ Tony thought to himself as he left the table, making sure to tip well, and headed home. The first thing he did when he got to the tower was go to the guest room. He looked in at the empty room, and took in how tidy the bed was made, how clean the floor and desk was; Tony punched the doorframe. He didn't join the others for dinner, or for breakfast the next day. He joined them for dinner, but ate silently before leaving the table; his dishes still at his seat. Tony didn't speak to the others. He didn't go to training, or join them for movie night, or board games. Tony didn't understand it. How could he feel so alone in a house with five other people?

The weekend flew by, and then Monday; it came and went, with Tony working in the lab in silence; still wallowing in what he knew was self pity, but he didn't know why. He didn't want to know. Thursday morning, he woke as the sun rose and began to get ready for the day. He dressed for the day, and went to the bathroom to brush his teeth while doing so at the sink in the bathroom, he saw his face in the mirror. Tony finished, brushing his teeth; he stood over the sink, breathing heavily, staring at himself in the mirror.

For the first time, in a long time, Tony punched his mirror; he watched the shards of glass fall from the mirror's frame, and saw his blood drip into the sink. He grabbed a towel and wrapped it around his injured hand and headed to the lab; first aid, then he had to go. As luck had it, Steve was the person who found Tony fumbling with the first aid box in the lab.

"Tony?" The man asked as he came into the room; he saw the bloody towel, and Tony's hand. "What-"

"Rogers, not now. I have to go." Tony was exhausted. Steve didn't say anything as he walked over and helped Tony to clean his hand. The temporary spray stitches would help for now.

"See you there Tony." Steve said, and Tony nodded. Tony tried to ignore the pain in his hand during the drive to the campus but, it was very difficult to do so. He arrived at the campus, and was lead by some officials to the stage, where there was a podium set; a sea of people in front of it.

"When you're ready Mister Stark, no rush." A kind lady said, and Tony gave her a smile.

Peter was in the crowd, Ned and MJ had been kept back at school to finish some work for their classes; much to their annoyance. Peter said not to worry, it wasn't the end of the world. He was standing in the crowd, when he felt the tingle in his neck, and ignored it. He felt Flash shove past him, and saw the nasty look he shot Peter; despite his efforts, Peter shot one back. Flash definitely saw it, and took a few steps back to Peter as if the crowd wasn't there.

"Problem Parker?"

"Huh? Not at all, Flash." _Stay calm._ Peter told himself. Flash was very close to, and Peter saw he had closed one of his hands into a fist.

"Seems there's a problem, Hey parker. Oi, don't ignore me Peni-"

"Peter!" The voice came from behind them, in the crowd, and Peter saw the figure walk over. The blonde man raised an eyebrow at the two teens.

"Is there a problem, son?" Steve asked, looking at Flash, who had stepped back from Peter. Peter had felt the fist moving closer to his face, and was glad it hadn't made contact; though he wasn't very pleased as to why.

"U-uh, no…" Flash couldn't get the words out. Peter sighed and glared at Steve.

"What are you doing out here Steve? Aren't you accepting an award?"

"Me? I showboat usually, stand in the background for Tony during his talks but no, Bucky wanted to come today so I offered to stay with him somewhere out of the way."

"Oh." As if that was enough reason for Steve to be talking to Peter; in public.

"Also….I got threatened by Tony." Peter saw Flash, still watching, and groaned quietly.

"Why did Tony threaten you?"

"If I didn't come find you, he was going to give Bucky more weird books."

Peter had to laugh at that; he smirked at Steve.

"Wouldn't want that."

"I was told to go find his favourite intern-"

"I'm his _only_ intern."

"You could be the only employee and you still wouldn't be the favourite, Parker." Flash spat, moving closer to Peter again.

"I was also told that he wants to at the tower after the ceremony, he wants you to go back with him in his car. Also, that if he saw any bruises on you at all, that he _will_ freak."

Peter opened his mouth to argue back, but saw that Flash had gone. He shook his head, and saw that Steve was still there. Peter raised an eyebrow.

"Also, I've got this for you." Steve said, and held out an envelope, which Peter took hesitantly.

"Okay, but why here?"

"It's much harder for you to spider your way out of a conversation in a crowd of people." Steve said with a smirk, and left Peter in the crowd with the mystery envelope. Peter tucked it into his jacket, he would decide later what to do with it. He watched as Tony made his way on stage, and stepped up the podium. Tony smiled at the crowd and took a deep breath.

 _I'm Tony fucking Stark; I can do this._


	14. Chapter 14 - A Change of Game

**Chapter 14**

 **A Change of Game**

 _My ship went down in a sea of sound…_

"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for being here today." Tony started his speech, resting his hands on the podium; digging his nails into the wood. "Today, the University of New York, has an award for us; for me and my team. They asked me to give a speech, which I couldn't say not to. I will begin the speech, by telling you about my day."

 _When I woke up alone, I had everything…_

Cameras flashed around Peter, but he managed to ignore the flashes and the noises they gave off. The envelope felt hot in his jacket pocket.

"I woke up, had breakfast, and got ready for my day. When I went to my bathroom, I saw myself in the mirror; my own face staring back, as it has every day of my life. If I looked into that mirror, and saw the face of Mister Scott Lang staring back at me; I could die as a proud man."

 _A handful of moments, I wished I could change…_

There was a murmur in the crowd, and Peter could see the man Tony had mentioned off to the side, holding a little girl in his arms.

"Scott Lang was injured in the events of what happened here. Scott Lang was wounded, and while his two assistants recovered in hospital, as did many other guests from that night, that man left his hospital bed, to begin the planning of the rebuilding project that was announced just a few days ago. I approached Scott, offering money, offering resources to help him with his project and that man, turned me down while he laughed in my face."

Peter raised an eyebrow. He saw that Scott looked absolutely mortified; the little girl was chatting in his arms. Peter strained, to hear her above the crowd.

"Daddy! That you!" She said, her voice bright and bubbly.

 _My lungs gave out as I faced the crowd, I think that keeping this up could be dangerous…_

"It is not often I am laughed at, certainly not when offering money but; Scott did not mean it in a way for me to find upsetting. This project, this huge rebuilding venture that Scott Lang has organised, this project _is_ Mister Scott Lang. he did not my money because he did not want any hands there were not his on his project; he has taken the responsibility for this venture onto his own shoulders, while injured, while still recovering. So, as men with similar views to our projects; we talked. We discussed, and we planned and as of this week, Stark Industries has agreed to provide partial funding for the rebuilding project; I am a backer. I am not a main hand in this project. I will watch from the sidelines as a man who truly cares, takes care of the work. Scott Lang is a man that I would be incredibly proud to be, and so, I invite this man to the stage to accept the award I was offered; that is much better suited to him."

Tony held out a held towards Scott, who was ushered onto stage by a ceremony official. Tony shook one of Scott's hands, and held out a small frame; it held a certificate inside of it. There was also a small trophy, golden, in the shape of a globe. Cassie took both, smiling brightly at Tony. Peter could see that Scott was ready to cry, and quickly left the stage. Tony smiled over the crowd as cameras flashed, and his eyes settled on Peter.

 _Therapy, you were never a friend to me ,you can take back your misery…_

Peter felt something push into his back, an elbow meeting the back of his ribs. He winced, and heard Flash snicker behind him. Tony watched, from the podium, expecting the wood to splinter as his nails dug in deeper, then he let go, and held his hands high above him.

"Peter!" He shouted, and watched as Peter's face turned to him; horrified. And very, very upset. Tony walked to the front of the stage, and hopped over it, landing on the ground in front of it. "There's my favourite intern!"

"Again, I'm your _only_ intern." Peter said through gritted Teeth. Tony's eyes flickered as he saw Flash behind Peter; hiding behind the other teen. Peter could hear Flash muttering something, but did his best to ignore it.

 _Arrogant boy , 'Cause a scene like you're supposed to…_

"The fact that I have never had an intern before, should say something." Tony said with a grin, and gestured for Peter to follow him. His car had pulled up to the side of the stage and it was time for him to leave. _It's done._ Tony thought as he walked to the car, and opened the door. Peter right behind him. Peter looked at the car, and at Tony; his entire body shook. He swayed for a moment, his head was spinning; he looked again at Tony, and his entire body screamed. _Move him.  
_

Peter moved, and took quick steps forward towards Tony; he grabbed the man by his jacket and pulled him backwards. Peter heard fabric rip as he pulled on the jacket.

"Kid!" Tony shouted, as Peter used the jacket to spin Tony around, so that Peter's back faced the car; he pushed Tony to the ground and crouched over the man as the car exploded.

Peter heard the crowd around him, scream, running; he stayed still, crouched over Tony, as shrapnel from the car flew around them. He could feel metal of metal and glass fly into his back, and fall away as his shirt, true to Loki's word, provided protection. Some shards missed his shirt, and cut his exposed neck and arms, some found the space between his jeans and shoes, cutting at his ankles. Peter hissed at the pain, but kept still, and waited until he heard sirens behind him, and organised shouts as emergency crews arrived. Someone nearby was shouting, and his body seemed to pick it up over the noise; a woman, shouting his name. The noise around him faded until it was shouts, and sirens; the shrapnel had stopped. Peter stood on shaking legs, and looked down at Tony, who had rolled over to look at Peter with wide eyes. Tony couldn't talk; his face had gone white, and there was blood pooling on the ground beneath him.

"Peter!" The ladie's voice came again, over the other noise.

"Ma'am! Wait, you can't go-"

Peter saw as his Aunt shoved aside a police officer and ran to the two, wrapping her arms around Peter. Two police officers, accompanied by a paramedic, made it to them as well.

"Mister Stark!" One of them shouted, Peter didn't know who he didn't care. He let May hold him, and eventually held her back wrapping his arms around her, and let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. A hand found his shoulder, and he looked to see a paramedic, looking at him sheepishly; she was a woman May's age, Peter guessed.

"I know kid, but we gotta check you over. Won't take long." She said, and helped Aunt May to let go of her Nephew, who was now covered in splotches of blood.

The next hour was a rush of being taken to the hospital for proper checks; his worst cuts were cleaned and stitched, while the smaller ones were cleaned and checked over. His doctor had changed during the process, and Peter only took notice when he found he really preferred the second lady. She found him again, in the waiting room, after he had been cleared to be taken home by May.

"Hello again Peter." She said.

"Hey, is everything alright? I can still go home, right?" Peter asked, nervous. He hated hospitals – the smells were always so strong. She smiled gently at Peter's worry.

"Of course peter, traffic is a little crazy after the incident but your Aunt is on her way.

"Oh! Good, um, so what's the matter? I thought you'd be busy."

"Nurse asked me to get you, there's someone on the phone for you. I wasn't told the name, just that the call was private. I was given a number for you to call back, you're welcome to use an empty room to make the call." She said, handing him a sheet of paper and giving him a friendly farewell.

Peter asked the front desk staff where he could go to make the call, and was given the key to get into a Doctor's office; they weren't in today so the room wasn't being used. He gave them a thank you and ran off to the room, locking the door after he entered the room. He quickly dialled the number into his cell phone, and waited as it rang; it didn't ring for long.

"Peter!" Came a lady's voice; who was it?

"Umm, hello?"

"Oh, sorry, this is Miss Potts; Pepper." Oh, of course. Why was she calling him?"

"Uhh, sorry but why are you calling me? Don't you run a company?"

"Yes, the company of which the owner, founder and public was nearly blown up today. Not the greatest day, but I got a call from the people treating Tony, he wanted information on how you're doing, so I had to get it."

"Ooh…kay…I'm fine, I'm waiting for my Aunt to get me. I got cleared a little while ago, traffic is just really bad."

"Course it is, do you need anything? We can have it brought to your house."

"N-no, really, it's fine. Tell Mister Stark not to worry, he needs to you know, relax for once." Peter leant against the door shaking his head. "Did…was he badly hurt? I saw the blood."

"A piece of metal from the explosion found its way into his thigh but, other than that, he's alright; aside from the mental aspect of the whole ordeal. He'll be home by the morning, tonight if he whines enough."

"Okay…that's good. Oh sorry, I think my Aunt's here, someone's knocking on the door."

"Alright Peter, go home and rest. If you need anything, call this number." Pepper said, and Peter said goodbye before hanging up. He left the room and found himself in front of May; who looked as pale as Tony had. She didn't say anything as she lead him to the car, and got him home. Peter was exhausted; ready to pass out in his own, but he didn't make it that far. He made it to the couch before collapsing into it, laughing to himself as May busied herself in the kitchen. He looked around, and saw something on their tiny balcony; a little pot plant.

"Did you already go get a plant May? That was quick." Peter said with a grin as May sat on the end of the couch, at his feet. May smiled and set a cup of tea in front of Peter, as well as one for herself. She looked at the plant, and smiled ever more.

"Oh! I had forgotten with…everything, no, Mister Stark dropped by during the day while you were at work." Peter coughed on his tea, and looked at May.

"What? Why?"

"To drop off the plant, he said it was his way of saying congratulations."

"Oh noo, May I'm sorry; I didn't think he'd…give you anything. Although I should have suspected it." May laughed at Peter, and smiled as she sipped her tea. The two fell into comfortable silence, and Peter fell asleep while they watched a movie; the lights were off, and they had microwaved popcorn. May got up from the couch and after gently placing a blanket over her Nephew, she went to bed; the door left open a crack, in case Peter woke up.

Peter didn't wake during the night; it wasn't until the next morning when he heard May answer the door that his eyes finally opened. Peter could hear her talking to whoever had knocked at the door, but he didn't make any move to get off the couch; it was far too comfortable. He heard the door close, and and heard May moving something in the kitchen. He groaned and got off the couch, and half-asleep, made his way to May; what Peter saw on the kitchen counter, was not at all what he expected to see after waking up.

There was a huge, obviously expensive flower assortment in a vase on the countertop; it was piled thick with different flowers and grasses, that tried to spill out of the vase. Peter knew maybe four of the flowers in the arrangement, but the rest of the names were lost on him.

"Uhhhh….May…" Peter said and gestured with open hands at the flowers, eyebrow raised.

"Oh Peter! I didn't mean to wake you dear."

"I was half awake already, why is there a small rainforest in our kitchen?" Peter had walked over to the flowers, and was busy looking at the arrangement; the smell was unbearable but, the flowers were _gorgeous._ He figured he could deal with the smell if May liked them. He saw a card stuck amongst them, and pulled it out.

"To May, thanks for being a great Aunt. Sorry for nearly getting the kid blown up. Love, Tony." Peter read out, and laughed at May who was shaking her head.

"Peter! Why am I getting flowers?!" She asked, her hands on her hips, simply unable to understand what was happening. Peter laughed again, when there was another knock at the door, and waved May back to her cup of tea that Peter saw on the table.

"I got it!" He called out, as he ran to the front door, still laughing. He twisted the doorknob, and opened the door to see a man in a nice suit, holding a package.

"Mister Parker?" The man asked, and Peter could _hear_ how much the man didn't want to be there.

"That's me!" Peter said, grinning.

"Good. A package for you, sir." The man said, pushing the package into Peter's hands and walking away.

"Thanks!" Peter called out after him, and shut the door. It wasn't a large box, but it was neatly wrapped in red paper, with a gold bow on top. Peter chuckled to himself and went back to May who was busy making breakfast.

"Wow, I wonder who it's, go on; three guesses." He said to May, who swatted him with the spatula she was holding, grinning at her nephew. Peter sat down at the kitchen table and slowly, making sure not to tear the paper, open the package. He held a card out to May, who took and began to read. Peter pulled a frame out of the box, and looked at the certificate that sat inside it. It was solid white, with gold and black text.

This certificate has been commissioned, in order to be presented to Mister Peter Parker.

For showing great bravery, in saving the life of Mister Tony Stark.

From everyone at Stark Industries; thank you.

Peter ran his fingers of the frame and realised he was crying; May noticed too, when she handed the card to Peter, tears in her own eyes.

"Peter, it's probably you read it. It…it said it's personal." She said, and gave her nephew a hug around his shoulders. They quickly ate breakfast, and Peter went to his room to read the card. He climbed into his bed, and saw the envelope Steve had given him, on his nightstand. Peter sat on his bed and leant against the wall, card first, then envelope. Good then the possibly very bad. He opened the card, and smiled at the neat handwriting that filled it. _Maybe Pepper's?_

Peter,

The certificate was from the company; Tony would have come in person but I scolded him for the idea, and scolded him again when I caught him trying to arrange to visit you without asking anyone. Despite his own injuries, despite the fact someone very obviously tried to kill him; Tony has spent the past day worrying about who he calls, his favourite intern.

He laughed at the certificate; quite bitterly. He said it was an insult to what you did. I happen to agree. He arranged the flowers for your Aunt, he was quite concerned about making sure she got something. The doctor who treated you is a friend of Tony's; anything that she saw, or suspected, will not make it to the world outside her own head. She is a good friend, of the entire team, and I took it upon myself to make sure she was the one to treat you, at least more the most part.

Tony is home at the tower, and has been asking for you to visit. I suspect he is lonely, despite living with five other people who aren't teenagers. You are an incredibly brave teenager, and while there are a handful of people now who would take a bomb for Tony Stark without hesitation; it was not always like that. We thank the gods, who Tony seems to know in person now, that you were one of those people when you were close enough to help.

Tony asked me to say that his invitation still stands; I imagine you know what it means.

Recover quickly, and stay safe;

Pepper Potts.

Peter wiped the tears away from his eyes, and grabbed the envelope from his night stand; and tore it open. He could face anything now; he thought for sure. He opened the envelope, and found a simple, white card inside. He opened the card, and a piece of paper fell out. It had been folded into quarters. Peter read the writing inside the card, and fiddled with the folded paper as he did.

Hi Peter,

Bucky asked me to do this, he said it would be easier than trying to corner you for a conversation; I agreed. He wanted to say thank you, for the arm; he hasn't been able to yet. T'Challa told him that you asked for it, as your thank you; Bucky still has issues accepting that but it'll pass. He also suggested I add the drawing to the card, I was working on it while we were on our trip.

Actually, I was working on quite a few but this was his favourite (I am unsure why). Hope to see you around the Tower soon.

Steve 'Apple Pie' Rogers

Peter laughed at the letter. Steve had obviously signed his name correctly, and had not seen that someone had added the additional names to it. He set the envelope and card next to him with the other card, and unfolded the drawing. It was a very well done drawing; it must have taken some time. It was of Peter; out of his suit, standing on top of a tower at the palace in Wakanda. He was waving, and the front of the picture was Steve and Bucky, standing on a balcony, watching Peter wave at them.

Peter smiled, and reread both cards, and froze. _T'Challa had told them?_ Peter knew he was freaking out; what he didn't know, is why he was freaking out. It had been, to him at the time, the right thing to do. He didn't need anything, Bucky did, so it had been a simple choice. Peter wanted to go out, to do something but, he knew it'd worry May so, he stayed home. They chatted, watched a movie, and made dinner together. Peter had a smile on his face the entire day; the certificate, the card and even the drawing running through his head. There was a knock on the door as they were finishing dinner, which May went to answer. She returned a few minutes later while Peter was plating up there meals; she was carrying a cling-wrapped plate of cookies. Peter sat down at the small dining table and waited for May to join him before starting to eat.

"Who was that?" He asked.

"Our neighbour, the elderly couple. She had heard about what happened and wanted to make sure you were doing okay. The cookies are a get well gift."

Peter smiled, but weakly. He had been trying to ignore the fact people would know what he had done. Cookies from an old lady were nice; what was school going to be like?

It was not how Peter expected. He stayed home during the weekend, to let May relax, and convince her he was fine; even though he was fine the day after it happened. Monday come and soon, he was at school. Ned and MJ were waiting for him at the gates, both obviously relieved he had turned up; he hadn't spoken to them since he had left school on Thursday.

"Dude, you're alive!" Ned said, when he saw Peter.

"And at school, nerd." MJ said, but smiled at Peter.

The three walked to their lockers; Peter's shoe caught the ground and tripped him. He bumped against a girl in the hall, and quickly apologised before moving on.

"Peter? Why are you at school?" The girl asked, and peter turned to looked at her.

"Because I go to school?"

"Weren't you at the ceremony?"

"Yeah…"

"Parker!" He heard another voice, and was relived to see someone from his chemistry class run up to them. The boy was nice enough; Jeremy, Peter thought his name was.

"Why are you at school? We saw the news man; you were walking to a car with Tony Stark!" The boy said.

"I-"

"Yeah, and the car exploded!" The girl said, looking at the boy Peter definitely knew as Jeremy.

"Dude, I can't believe you threw Tony Stark onto the ground." Jeremy said, full of awe.

"It was either that or get blown up; Peter saved him." Ned said, cutting the two off, and pulling Peter with him. That was Peter's morning; everyone asking him why he was at school, saying they couldn't believe that Peter saved Tony Stark, and telling him that Flash was full of shit and to ignore him.

It was hard, Peter found as he was leaving school through the back gate, when he felt a fist meet his side. He knew it was coming but, couldn't do much about it. He felt another fist, this time meeting his jaw. Peter fell back against the fence, and this time a foot met him stomach; the place where the spear had met previously.

"Get fucked Parker." Flash hissed, before running off, leaving Peter on the ground against the fence. Peter got to his feet, and brush his shirt off.

"Save Tony Stark, be a hero; get beat to shit. Great plan, ticked all the boxes." Peter said to himself, feeling the split in his lip. He could taste the blood already.

"Not the best plan you've ever had." A voice came from nearby, and Peter turned to see Bucky.

"Uh, hi?"

"I'm telling Tony."

"Course."

"I'm telling him you fought back."

Bucky's face was usually hard to read but today, his mouth was turned up in a smirk. He was wearing a long sleeve sweatshirt, to cover his arm.

"You do that." Peter said, glancing above him; branches, good. The back gate was lined with old, thick trees.

"You coming back to the tower soon?"

"Maybe, I need to figure stuff out, you know; intern stuff."

"Right… no more hide and seek?" Bucky smirked, and was suspicious when Peter smirked back.

"Nah, I'm better at tag." Peter said, as he heard footsteps running towards them. Bucky reached out, too slowly, and missed Peter as he pushed off the fence, and jumped to a tree branch above them.

"Little shit! Dammit, I'm no good at tag." He said, laughing, and turned his head to see three boys come through the gate.

"Parker! Where-" Flash looked around, obviously annoyed. 'Where'd he go?"

"You boys lose someone?" Bucky asked, and saw the boys turn to him.

"Nah, fuck off dude. Who are you anyway? Hanging out at a schoo-" Flash was saying, but stopped, he had seen something. The sun had glinted off of the hand of Bucky's metal arm, which wasn't covered totally by the sleeve.

"Oh my god." Another boy said, standing behind Flash.

"Dude, chill. It's not him." Flash said, glaring at his friend, as Bucky pulled his sweatshirt off.

"Great idea Stark; it's too hot anyway. Any of you lot seen Peter?"

"Uhh…"

"Peter. Parker." Bucky said, now completely facing the boys.

"No, sir, we haven-"

"Don't lie to me. I saw. _."_

Peter was above them, and was able to see Bucky's new arm; it was made of an almost black matte metal, that only glinted in very certain angles of light. Tony had desperately wanted to put the colour red into it, which Peter wasn't sure about. They compromised; each tiny bolt and screw on the arm was topped with a small red star. The red wasn't visible unless you were close; more of an extra detail for Bucky more than anything. Peter dropped down from the branches a little further down the road, behind a metal post, and stepped out into the walkway.

"Parker!" Flash shouted. "He's fucking dead." The boy whispered to himself, not realising that whispering was easily heard by Bucky; who took a step closer to Flash.

"Try again." Bucky hissed at the boys, then turned to face Peter, who grinned back at the metal armed man. Peter stepped back, and turned around the corner he was near, and went back into the branches second before Bucky rounded the corner.

'Come on Parker, I'm really no good at tag. Not your version of it anyway."


	15. Chapter 15 - Tag

**Chapter 15**

 **Tag**

Peter came to the tower that weekend, wearing a plain black v-neck and jeans; his special shirt was tucked inside his bag. May had said goodbye that morning; she was off for a week doing more training for her new role. Peter wasn't going to ask to stay at the Tower again but if it was offered? He didn't know. He didn't worry about the outside gate, he simply came to the Tower across the football field, and found the front door. He went to knock, and the door slid open for him, and he stepped inside the building as it closed behind him. It was strange coming in through the front door, when he usually came through a window somewhere; it was a novelty. The elevator ride was as smooth and quiet as he remembered, and Peter stepped out into the empty living area. He saw the fridge, and walked over; a number of small drawings had been stuck to it with magnets, the newest one judging by it's lack of water marks was of Tony; on his way to an ambulance, covered in dust, blood on his suit. Peter frowned; why was this on the fridge?

He looked around the kitchen and then the lounge; also, empty. Peter realised he had been holding his breath, whether from nerves he wasn't sure, but he took a breath in as he tried to relax.

The room smelt of blood.

He couldn't see any blood in the lounge, nor in the kitchen; where was the smell coming from? He followed the smell, down a floor, and down a hallway that he remembered. He saw the doors to the lab, and judging by how strong the smell was, figured it was the place.

'Sir, you have a guest." Friday came over the speakers in the lab; Tony glared at Clint, who was looking away sheepishly. Bucky was sitting on a medical bench, swinging his legs like a child, smiling at the two.

"Friday, not now." Tony answered back, as he looked at the fresh gash on Bucky's flesh hand. "You are both responsible for this and I hate both of you."

"Sir, the guest has made their way down to your current floor."

"Well kick them out then! Who let them in, you? Who is? I'm not doing interviews, I'm busy!"

"So much for open invitations." Peter said, as he stepped through the doors.

"I don't give open invi-" Tony was saying as he cleaned Bucky's arm. He spun so quickly he knocked the first aid box to the floor.

Tony stared at Peter; he had forgotten about Clint and Bucky.

"You little shit." Tony said.

"Wow, thanks, I'll be going then."

"Like hell!" Tony said, standing up suddenly, then remembered what he was doing. "Uhh…"

Peter laughed, and gave a wave as he left the room. "Not leaving!" He called back, and headed to the living area again. Peter sat on the couch, and felt more relaxed than he had in weeks, when Friday came over the speakers.

"Mister Parker, a message from Agent Barton, in regards to a game you proposed recently."

"Okay?"

"You're on."

Peter laughed, and settled into the couch, closing his eyes.

He heard footsteps a few minutes later.

"So, both of you are banned; from being in the same room, from being near me, from existing."

"Totally fair, if we're only talking about Bu- is he asleep?!" Clint lost his words, upon seeing Peter on the couch, eyes shut tight. Peter heard footsteps as Clint raced forward and as he felt Clint reach over, Peter reacted; he threw his hands behind his head and grabbed the armrest, which he used to anchor himself as he threw his legs over himself, sending them above his head. His body followed; flying off the couch, over Clint and his outstretched hand. He pressed down on Clint's shoulders with both hands, then pushed himself up and away, landing on the ground behind Clint.

'What?!' Clint shouted, turning and facing Peter, wo had already taken off down a hallway. Clint followed.

"Lucky you don't have any balconies, eh?" Bucky asked Tony, who was shaking his head.

"Yes, remind me to never ever consider them." He said, and the two walked in the direction Peter and Clint had run. "I have a landing bay!" Tony suddenly shouted, and the two men began to run.

Steve and Bruce stepped out of a room, into the hallway, and heard the shouts. Peter came into view from the corner first, followed by Clint. Peter threw himself onto the ceiling, crawled for a few steps, then dropped and continued running; Clint collided with Steve and Bruce, shoving them aside as his target got further away. They were shoved again as Tony and Bucky ran past, and decided to follow, at a light jog instead of sprinting like the others. Peter and Clint continued; making it through the doors to the landing bay.

"Friday!" Peter shouted before they entered the room, and he grinned as he saw the landing bay slowly start to open.

Clint followed Peter into the bay, and saw what the kid had seemingly been thinking the whole time. The landing bay was large, and open and today, very empty; the quinjet had been used by Natasha and Rhodey earlier, and they hadn't arrived back yet. Peter's feet and his neck tingled, and he jumped, throwing himself into a flip, missing the area in front of him where Thor materialised; landing behind the god, and continuing to run. Clint collided with Thor; and came to a stop.

'Thor, dammit!" Clint shouted, as he sat on the ground, catching his breath. They all heard the noise, as the quinjet approached; it was close to the entry of the landing bay, and Peter was still going.

"Ummm!" Tony was shouting from behind him, they had all stopped at Clint, and were all watching. Peter shot a web at the ceiling, just before the large landing bay door, and pulled, yanking himself into the air at a swing. He swung forward, gaining height as he cleared the door, and let go. He landed cleanly on the front of the jet, and sat down, facing the others who had been watching. He had waved to Natasha before landing; she had waved back. Natasha guided the jet in and landed it, before disembarking.

"Kid, that was-"

"Certainly Impressive." T'Challa said, cutting off Tony as he disembarked behind Natasha. Peter was sitting on the front of the aircraft still, legs hanging over the edge.

"Um, hello!" Tony said, at his unexpected guest.

"Hello my friend, I apologise for my unexpected and late arrival, I was informed of the explosion that occurred recently, but have not had a chance to contact you."

"Oh um, no problem. I've recovered well, all cleared now." Tony looked at Peter as the teen jumped back down to the floor, and ran a hand through his hair.

"Ah young hero; it is good to see you again!"

"Again, with the hero thi-"

"I was also informed as to why Mister Star survived the incident."

"Oooof course you were."

"Tony, un-spider him, take his legs away, make him slower!" Clint was pleading with Tony.

"You could just get faster." Bucky teased.

The group entered the tower again, heading to the living area for lunch, with an extra guest; a king.

Peter looked at the door, and shook his head to himself.

"Kid." He hadn't realised Tony was till there. "I'm not gonna make you join them; I'm not even joining them; I have to go talk to Scott. Can you please, just for the love of god, be here when I get back? Anywhere, I'll find you."

"You mean Friday will tell you?" Peter answered, smiling gently at Tony. "Sure Mister Stark, I'll stay."

"Oh thank god."

"Can I ask a question before you go?"

 _Can I intern again?_ Tony pleaded to himself. "Go ahead."

"What is Bucky's version of tag?"

"Uhhh, actually have no idea what that means. I imagine people die in it though."

Peter laughed, and said goodbye to Mister Stark. The man went back into the tower, and left for his meeting.

"Mister Parker, Captain Rogers has asked me to inform you that there is lunch for you in the kitchen."

"Thanks Friday."

"It is good to see you again, Mister Parker."

Peter headed back to the kitchen, ignoring everyone's eyes, and grabbed the lunch Steve had left for him. He ate while walking around the kitchen, not wanting to stand still for too long; he had _so much energy._ He could hear them talking though, he wasn't ignoring them.

"So Agent Barnes, which game was it you were playing earlier?"

"Which game he lost you mean?" Natasha interjected, smirking at Clint."

"I did not lose!"

"He jumped onto a plane; you definitely lost." Steve pointed out, and the others nodded.

"Oh, Thor!" Peter said suddenly, remembering that Thor was also at the table.

"Yes young friend?"

Peter moved to the couch and pulled his shirt out of his backpack the fabric shimmered as he moved it

"Can you ask Loki to look at it?"

"Is it damaged my friend?"

"It's dirty?"

He held the shirt out to Thor, who took it and inspected the fabric; it was stained with blood.

"It's called washing, kid." Clint said, smirking.

"Again, not a child, I tried that. Three times. It just…won't come out."

"Good god even your DNA is sticky?!" Clint shouted, almost disgusted.

"If that was true half of my palace would still be stained." T'Challa laughed.

"I shall ask my brother, young multi-legged friend." Thor said, smiling at Peter. Peter ignored T'Challa's comment.

Satisfied with that, Peter left them to their lunch; raising his hand as Clint threw a spoon at Peter, which Peter flicked back at Clint without looking. Clint ducked just in time.

"You think you'd learn." Natasha said, rolling her eyes at Clint.

Peter spent the afternoon in the library, tucked in a corner, reading. He looked outside and decided he wanted to stretch his legs, so he went to the roof. It was dark now, and the air had a gentle chill to it; more refreshing than anything. He heard footsteps behind him a little later.

"Hope you haven't had dinner." Tony said, and sat on the ground next to Peter.

"I figured you'd already have an answer." Pete said, smiling.

"You figured me out way to quickly." Tony, and held out a takeaway box; which he was glad Peter took. The two ate in silence, and finished their meals.

"So, what's it gonna take?" Tony finally asked.

"For what?"

"For you to come back."

"I am ba-"

"No; to visit, to intern. I miss having you here." Tony admitted; and Peter's breath got stuck in his throat. He looked at Tony, hair covering part of his face and to Tony; he really did look so _young._

"Mister Star-"

"Why'd you do it?"

"Do what?"

"Pull me away from the car."

"Umm, so you didn't die?"

"You didn't know what was going to happen though, did you?"

"No, but it didn't feel good. My whole body was screaming at me to just _do something."_

"Your spidey senses told you?"

"Not that it was going to explode just… that the car wasn't safe. They kind of lead my body, and I let it follow, usually."

"Unless you're getting the shit beat out of you at school?"

Peter rolled his eyes and laid against the roof, staring at the sky.

"Kid-"

"You're not bulletproof. I'm not, technically, but you also don't heal like I do. You wouldn't have been able to get your suit on in time, there was no way for you to have known; you would have died. I was the closest thing nearby to being bulletproof." Peter finished, and closed his eyes, waiting for the scolding.

 _They'll fall asleep without you, you're lucky if your memory remains…_

"It's late, I'll call May and say you're staying overnight on a project." Tony said, and left the roof; leaving Peter on his own.

Tony went to his room, to find something to Punch; he found Steve on the way to the medbay. Tony had tried to ignore Steve, and went to push past the man, who grabbed Tony by the arm.

"To-" Steve wasn't expecting Tony to lash out. Tony's elbow struck Steve's jaw. Tony lost his balance, and fell back against the wall; he slid to the floor, clutching his bleeding forearm. Tony didn't know he why wanted to cry, so when the tears began to fall down his cheeks, he couldn't stop them. Steve rubbed his sore jaw, and saw Tony on the ground; bloody, and crying silently.

"Tony, what? What happened?" Steve asked, and crouched beside his friend.

"How did I make you stay?" Tony asked, looking at Steve with red, wet eyes.

"Stay?"

"You…you hated me, we nearly killed each other!" Tony was sobbing now, choking on his words as he spoke. "But you came back, and you stayed; you even somehow got me wrapped around your finger enough for your bestie to move in."

Steve sat against the wall, next to Tony, and let his friend lean against his side.

"Tony what on earth happened?"

"The kid…how the hell do I get him to understand? Everyone keeps saying how much he idolises me, how much he enjoys being a fake intern but how the fuck do I make him understand?!"

"Understand _what?"_

"That he belongs here! He kept calling it a guest room, when it was his from the first night that he stayed in it. I knew it was only until his Aunt came back, and I got complacent, and greedy. I just want him to see it…"

"Tony, he's still an intern. You'll still see-"

"He isn't." Tony spat the words, angry at what was happening.

"What? Why?"

"He doesn't want to be here…he won't tell me why…"

"Is it Me? Bucky?"

"Dammit Rogers I just said he won't tell me!"

"Tony, what happened to your arm?"

"You'll get mad."

"How often do I do that?"

Tony let out a choked sob, and looked at the ground between his feet.

"I broke my TV."

"Did you break it with your fist?"

"I tried, but my elbow got to it first; which is why there is glass inside my arm."

"Tony! For…come on." Steve stood and pulled Tony up with him. He helped Tony to the medbay and helped to patch up his arm.

"You know; I don't drink anymore." Tony said, leaning against Steve, as the man helped Tony back to the penthouse.

"I know Tony, how long's it been?"

"Too long, which is why I broke my TV."

"And the mirror?"

"That too, I forgot."

Steve laughed softly and helped Tony to his bed. Once Steve was satisfied that Tony was fine, he left the room.

"Steve?" Tony called out, and was relieved when Steve looked back into the room.

"Are we friends?"

"Course we are Tony." Steve said, and frowned when he got no response from Tony. He walked back to the bed, and sat on the edge, looking at Tony. The man had wrapped himself in a heavy duvet, but was sitting up.

"But you got Bucky back. You got your bestie." Tony sounded so fragile.

"I can have two of them, you know." Steve said, and watched as Tony pulled the blanket tighter around himself. "You're both my friends Tony; just in different ways I suppose? Bucky kept me alive when I picked fights I couldn't win, and you told me what movies to watch so I didn't seem so _old._ You've been...great with Bucky, in more ways than we can count; I think he's still expecting the rug to get pulled out from under his feet, and to land back in HYDRA."

"Programming's gone, but the buttons are still there…" Tony whispered to himself.

"You gonna be okay on your own? I can stay up here if you want."

"I'll be okay, I'll put a movie on and try and fall asleep to it.

Steve stood up, and left the room again; leaving Tony alone inside his duvet cocoon.

"You always sleep better after you've cried anyway; it works wonders." Steve called back, and the elevator left. Tony was alone. He frowned at the ceiling. _Did Captain America cry? No. How stupid. He was the icon, their mascot; he was the Avengers. He keeps us together, even when he fucking hate each other._ Tony fell asleep, arguing with himself in his head.

He considered how wrong he was about what kept them together the next morning; when he was sure Natasha was going to murder someone. Everyone seemed to be on edge; bickering, making snarky remarks at each other over simple things. Steve had grown tired of the bickering as he made breakfast, so after plating his own breakfast up, he tipped the rest of the eggs into the bin. He ate breakfast in the library that morning.

Bucky spent the day in the training room; ignoring Natasha and Clint when they came in to train on their own. The three ran their own drills, in silence. Bruce worked in the lab, enjoying the peace but was worried when Tony didn't turn up during the day.

Peter walked into the kitchen to hear Natasha and Clint arguing.

"Get fucked, Barton!"

"I'd say the same to you, but I'd have to help you hide the body when you're done with the poor idiot!"

Peter had similar experiences; Steve and Bucky were arguing in the library, Bruce was annoyed at a project, and Peter couldn't even find Tony. He found himself outside the tower, on the football field. He sighed loudly, and despite thinking it was a bad idea, called Ned and MJ to hang out. They found Peter on the pathway in the park, and followed their friend when he disappeared into the bushes; they found themselves on the field. MJ had brought some of her art supplies, and sat underneath a tree to draw as Ned and Peter walked around the field.

"Hello Mister Parker and friends." Friday's voice came over the speakers around the field; scaring MJ and Ned. Peter laughed at his friends and apologised, he had totally forgotten Friday was out there.

"Hi Friday!" Peter called back.

"Is there anything the matter Mister Parker?"

"No, we're just trying to find something to do."

"Sorry losers, mum phoned; wants help at work." MJ shouted at them, and waved goodbye before leaving the way they had come.

"I believe Captain Rogers and Agent Barnes have some baseball equipment in their rooms, perhaps you could ask to borrow it?"

Peter grinned; and told Ned to wait. He returned a short time later carrying a bat, a couple of baseballs and a catchers mitt.

"No offense dude but, I'll watch you before I try and catch or hit anything you're throwing t me." Ned said and sat where MJ had been earlier. Peter laughed and set up an automated ball thrower that Friday had informed him about. It took a few minutes but finally, it was ready. Peter stood, bat in hand and waited. The machine whirred, and shot a ball; which Peter hit dead on. The ball smashed into the grass behind the machine, and Peter waited for the next one.

"Peter!" Ned shouted, and ran over, carrying something. It was a wooden board with a target painted on it.

"There's a bunch in the shed where you found the ball thrower." Ned said, and Peter grinned at his friend. "Think you can hit it?"

Peter shrugged, said he'd try, and smashed the next ball into the target first go; it went through the wooden board, which fell into a pile of splintered wood. Peter and Ned laughed; Ned set up another one, further back and they went again. The boys found this to be very fun, and so they continued.

"Barnes, were you in my room?" Steve demanded, coming in through the doors to the library. He glared at Bucky who was draped over a couch.

"No, _Rogers._ I wasn't." He snapped back.

"Well you're the only one besides me the door opens for, so who went through my closet?"

"Wasn't me. Worried about what they found in there?" Bucky teased, his voice nasty. Steve rolled his eyes at his friend.

"Fine, whatever."

"No, go whatever yourself you jerk." Bucky said, jumping up from the couch. Steve moved closer, and the two made moves to strike. They missed, and fell into each other; Steve was higher, and pushed against Bucky, sending his friend to the ground.

"Bucky, what the hell? Stay out of my ro-"

"Holy shit! That little punk." Bucky half whispered half shouted. He was staring out of the library window from the ground. Steve looked out to see Peter and another teenager, in the field.

"They took baseball gear from my room?" Steve asked.

"That's my bat!"

"They took baseball gear; from both of our rooms?"

They two men ran to the elevator, and jumped out as soon as the doors opened on the ground level. Thank god they could run so quickly; it didn't take them long to reach the field.

"Ned, put it down!" Peter shouted at his friend, who was holding a wooden target above his head.

"Peter come on!"

"I don't want to hit you!"

"Then you won't miss!"

Bucky and Steve watched from the sidelines, as Peter held the bat, and waited for the whirring machine to fire.

"You guys playing baseball?" Clint asked, coming up behind the two men.

"Nope, but our gear is being used."

"If he breaks my bat, I'm breaking him." Bucky said.

"I'm not protecting you from Tony." Steve said.

Bucky grinned, and the three of them waited for the machine to fire; it did.

The ball shot straight for Peter, who hit it dead on; it smashed through the target Ned was holding, and into a tree at the edge of the field, where it got halfway through the trunk before it stopped moving.

'Dude!" Ned was very impressed, and put the shattered sign on the ground.

"You have a go, we've done almost an entire two baskets of balls and you haven't done any."

"What? No! You're the super guy!"

"What if I'm the target?" Peter joked.

"Can anyone take that offer?" Bucky called out.

Peter and Ned looked and saw the group who had been watching.

"Peter, you did ask to borrow the stuff, didn't you?" Ned said at Peter, pointedly.

"Well, no, but you also never asked if I did."

"You stole from Captain America?!"

"I like that he's more concerned about that, than the guy with the metal arm." Clint pointed out.

"Peter!" Ned shouted, hitting Peter on the shoulder. "You didn't tell me that the Winter Soldier was here as well!"

"Hey! No hitting; I'm delicate."

Bucky and Clint snorted; Steve just smirked.

"Fine, fine, they can have their stuff back." Peter said, eyes going from Ned to the men. "if they can get it back." He grinned, eyes sparkling.

" _Peter."_

"Oh get fucked kid, you're dead." Clint said, grinning.

"Also not protecting you!" Steve shouted as Clint raced forward, aiming for Peter.

"Nope!" Peter said with a grin, and fired a web at a piece of broken wood nearby, as Clint's foot hovered above it. Clint's foot fell touching the wood, which was promptly yanked away by Peter. Clint fell, hitting the ground, and heard laughter as Peter ran, Ned following behind him.

"Peter, this isn't a good idea!"

"You'll be fine; he didn't say that you were dead!" Peter shouted back, and the two disappeared around the side of the tower.


	16. Chapter 16 - Early Sign Out

**Chapter 16**

 **Early Sign Out**

The two boys came to the side of the tower, and paused, panting.

"Peter! Mister Stark is gonna be so pissed, dude. What are you doing?" Ned asked his friend, obviously worried.

"You wanna head off?"

Ned nodded, and Peter gave his friend a quickened version of their handshake goodbye, then Ned ran off, back to the paths that went towards the park. Peter placed the catchers mitt on the ground near the tower, and held onto the bat tight with one hand. He fired a web at the side of the building, which stuck to the side, and he pulled himself up. He clung to the side of the building with one hand, a quarter of the way up, and waited. He didn't have to wait long, and he saw the three men find the catchers mitt. Clint pointed at it, and they rushed over. Peter waited and, hoping he timed it right, shot a web at the mitt; he was right.

The web stuck to the mitt just as Clint reached for it, and it shot into the air, pulled towards Peter with the web. The three men shouted, and looked up to see Peter, who was now climbing up and away from them, the mitt and bat hanging from his hip with a small length of web. They ran inside, and Peter quickly found the windows he had used earlier to get in and returned the gear to the right room. He realised that the balls were still on the field so, he checked that no one was outside the tower, and threw himself from the building, using a web to swing his way to a landing on the field; he found the balls and repeated his previous trip, to the side of the building, and up to the windows. He finally returned the balls, and carefully closed the windows again. He climbed to the roof, and let himself into the tower through the air vent that was still not closed very well, and carefully climbed to the kitchen. He dropped into the kitchen, and let out a breath; he hadn't seen Natasha, who was making a coffee.

Natasha coughed, and Peter spun to face her.

"God dammit, they're looking for you – aren't they." It wasn't a question, and Peter could only smile.

"They were looking for my friend as well, but he's already left."

"Not a big fan of tag?"

"Clint saying I was dead put him off, yeah."

"He what?!" Shouted Natasha, and Tony who had entered the kitchen with Bruce next to him.

"I mean, I totally deserved it." Peter admitted, and three men who had been after him ran into the room.

"Found you!" Clint said, pointing at Peter.

"Why did you deserve Clint telling you that you're dead?" Tony asked, raising at an eyebrow at Clint, who was now bent over with his hands on his knees, panting.

"H-He stole…Steve's…god how do you guys do this without passing out from a lack of oxygen?" Clint muttered; Bucky and Steve laughed at Clint, and looked at Tony.

"You _stole_ from Captain America? America's prized man?" Tony asked, a smile pulling at his lips.

"Well when you put it that way…"

"It was definitely an amusing thing, to see the three of you chasing after a teenager. It seems to happen a lot lately." Natasha said, grinning. Bruce started it this time; he started to laugh, which spread slowly to the others. Peter looked at the team, grinning. He ducked out of the room while they were laughing and found his way the guest room. A knock came from the door a little while later.

"Apparently all stolen goods have been returned." Tony said, smiling as he pushed the door open; Peter was laying on his bed, over the covers, looking at the ceiling.

"Imagine that." He said with a grin. "Is everyone in a better mood now?"

"What do you mean?"

"Oh yeah I don't know if you were here when I woke up but, wow; everyone woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Steve and Bucky were _arguing._ No bickering more so, Natasha and Clint were the one arguing, complete with insults and shouting."

"Huh."

Tony leaned against the doorway, arms folded at his chest; he was frowning.

"I mean, I've been in Steve's room before, I figured I was a guest there already." Peter said, glancing sideways at the man.

"Wait, what?"

"When I landed in the bed?"

"….so you found out?"

"Friday told me. She thought I should know, for some reason. Also, I figured it was fair to know since you show them me moving Bucky to the couch."

"What, bu-"

"The stupid nickname I used for him; Steve used it for him once when I was near them."

"Why did you even use a nickname for him?"

"Well, I used apple pie for Steve a lot at the time. I figured a dessert based one for Bucky was a good idea, I just wish he didn't know, considering it was a _german word."_ Peter said, glaring at Tony.

"Kid, why did you do that?"

"Because he was asleep, and I figured he wouldn't know!"

Tony didn't say anything.

"It's gonna be late soon, I should start heading home." Peter sat up in the bed, and ran a hand through his hair.

"No!" Tony hadn't meant to shout. Peter looked at him with wide eyes; scared? Concerned?

"Mister Stark?"

"I'll call May. Just, stay tonight? We can hang out in the lab, just us, we can work on whatever you want."

Peter stared at the man, obviously suspicious before sighing, and smiling gently.

"Sure, Mister Stark." Peter could've sworn Tony smiled like an excited child before rushing off to call May.

True to Tony's word, they worked in the lab until a ridiculously late hour, working on a little bit of everything, before finally deciding to head to sleep. The rest of the tower had fallen asleep already.

Peter fell asleep but, was plagued by his usual nightmares. The building collapsing overhead, crushing him, with no one coming to help him. This one seemed worse than normal, he could se a figure in the dust, and saw the familiar shape of a circular shield, as the figure approached him. A large piece of rubble was lifted from him by the figure, and Peter tried to say thank you, when a metal hand found his throat, and squeezed. He struggled to keep his open, and saw as the figure with the shield was over him; the shield rose in the air, then fell towards Peter's face.

Peter woke up gasping for air; he decided it wasn't worth trying to go back to sleep, so he went to the lounge, and settled into the couch to watch TV. He didn't care what he watched, he just didn't want to be asleep.

 **Clint**

Clint Barton arrived home, his real home; where his wife and children lived. He pulled his bag from the car and slammed the door shut behind him, and waved at the driver as they drove away, disappearing down the road. Clint smiled; he was excited to see his family; he had gotten a gift for each of them.

He practically ran up the steps, and came to the front door, which wasn't locked. Laura must be in the garden somewhere. He entered his home, and threw his bags onto the ground in the entryway. He immediately noticed how quiet the house was; there no chatter, no children's show on the TV. There was no barking or running feet coming to greet him; there was no Lucky. Clint walked through the house to find someone, anyone, but he couldn't. He finally ended up in the kitchen and saw a note on the dining table, with Laura's handwriting on it.

It was an apology, and an explanation. She explained why she had left, why she had taken the kids and Lucky; Clint was different. He was so easy to anger, so quick to upset these days. She was _so frightened._ She didn't know what to do, so she left. She hoped he understood and that he found help, that he found someone who understood him and the deep issues he had.

Clint couldn't understand. He knew he had a temper now, but he had found so many ways to cope. Hadn't he? He'd never raised his voice, never lashed out at his family, he had never, never thought of harming any of them and yet, they were gone; his house was empty. Clint stared at the note, and screamed.

He was the second person to wake that night, at one o'clock in the morning. Clint found Peter watching TV in the lounge, so he sat on the other couch and joined the kid.

 **Bucky**

James Bucky Barnes was hurt; he was in pain. There was a fire in one of his arms, and his face; his forehead hurt the most, where the electricity had been administered. He was in the city now, wondering the streets, he had been given a target. The streets were cold, full of snow and so, so empty. Bucky was glad, as glad he was capable of being, less people meant less witnesses; less casualties.

James Bucky Barnes was no longer his name; he had no idea he had even had one. He was the asset, a tool for HYDRA and he was their best one. He made his way down the main street and saw someone, a figure; it was large, obviously someone strong. He drew closer and saw the yes, it was the target. He raised his gun, and narrowed his eyes, when the man turned.

"Bucky?" The man asked, his voice low. Bucky heard it. Why was that word so familiar?

"You're alive?" The man asked, again his voice low, desperate. Of course he was alive; the pain in his entire body proved it. He fired, and the man toppled to the ground. He moved over to inspect the body, to verify the death, but it wasn't the man he had shot. It was a young boy, a teenager; he was scrawny, with blonde hair that fell over his eyes. He stared at the hair, then the boy's face; it was so young, so peaceful and so, painfully familiar.

 _Steve._

The name pounded in his head.

 _Steve. Steve. Steve. Stevie._

Bucky let out a gasp, and dropped his gun into the snow. Steve was still alive. Steve, the scrawny idiot he had grown up with; his best friend was alive. _Had been._ Bucky shot up in his bed, metal hand clutching the side of the bed frame.

Bucky was the third person to wake that night, at one twenty-five in the morning. He found Peter and Clint watching TV in the lounge, so he sat at the other end of the couch that Peter was on, and joined the two.

 **Tony**

Tony was sitting on the couch in his penthouse, watching TV. The game of baseball he was watching flickered, and changed to a news broadcast.

"Hey!" He shouted, and glared at the news anchor; a blonde woman, with bright eyes and nice lips. He shrugged, and frowned as the broadcast continued.

"Reports of an attack on a plane over our city tonight." She said, and Tony felt himself tense up. "Reports claim that the plane held dangerous weaponry, there have been no leads as to how the perpetrator of the crime was able to locate the cloaked aircraft." Tony sat up, and stared at the screen. _His plane?_

"There are reports, and heavy evidence to indicate that it was Spiderman, who stopped the theft from being successful. The aircraft came down on a beach outside the city, and while the wreckage is great, the perpetrator was found at the scene; he has since been taken into custody for questioning."

Tony felt his chest well; _the kid had done it?_ Was Tony proud? _God, yes._

"There have been no reports however, of the superhero. It is believed he was lost over the ocean as the plane descended, losing hold as the plane struck the ground in it's landing. Police sweeps of the water have found no trace of a body. It is believed he is missing, presumed dead."

It was the next day, when Peter's body was found on the beach. His mask was gone, and his suit was torn. He didn't know why, but Tony was the one asked to identify the body; he stared at the boy's body in the hospital, knowing it was his fault he was there. Tony woke up, sweat had collected on his face, and he felt sick. Tony left his bed, and headed to the kitchen for a drink of water.

Tony was the fourth person to wake that night, at one fifty-six in the morning. Tony found Peter watching TV in the lounge with Clint and Bucky., Tony sat on the same couch as Clint, and watched TV with the others. It was some kind of documentary, but Tony couldn't focus on it long enough to figure out what the show was about; he kept looking at Peter, just for a few seconds each time, but often. He needed proof that the boy was here, and still alive. There was a sudden gasp from Clint; who had obviously not been expecting whatever had come up on the screen.

"The hell?" Bucky said, looking at Clint who was clutching his chest.

"I'm sorry did no one else see it?!"

"We all saw it; no one else jumped."

"I didn't, what happened? Was it good?" Tony asked.

"Not as good at Clint's reaction." Bucky grinned. Peter was staring at the screen.

"Good god, I didn't need to see that!"

"No one has told me what it was yet!"

"Spiders! Nasty spiders, all hairy and ready to eat my face, like the one that _jumped at the camera!"_

"Not a fan of spiders, Clint?" Bucky asked with a smirk.

"Not ones like that!"

"Then why do you go in the vents?" Peter asked, not looking away from the screen.

"What?" Clint said back. "No, kid, what?"

"Nothing, it's finished. Night all." Peter said with a wave as the credits for the show began, and he left the men in the lounge.

"Oh my god, I think the kid just gave you a complex." Tony said, smirking at Clint. "Will you stay out of my vents now?"

Clint didn't respond, but he did eye the nearby vent opening, his eyes narrowed just a little.

They were able to eventually go back to bed, and slept, though poorly. They were woken the next morning by Friday; they had a mission. Tony said he would go and get the information, and brief them himself; no one enjoyed SHIELD briefings. Too long, too boring, not enough coffee. Tony arrived back at the tower later in the morning, and found everyone gathered in the lounge.

"Boring mission, easy enough, but a few issues." He said, and threw a pile of folders onto the table; one for each of them.

"What's the biggest issue?" Steve asked, scanning the contents of the folder.

"Bucky." Tony said. No point in trying to avoid it.

"Me?" Bucky asked.

"They want us to go to some HYDRA base; apparently there have been sighting there of HYDRA members, ones we thought were dead and buried forever ago. It's an old base, one of the first we found way back in the day."

"So…" Bucky wanted to know.

"They want Bucky to go, they're thinking is that you'll be able to guide us, read signs or something; as if HYDRA gave you language lessons. But, they're worried about something happening; they want you to have a handler." Tony held his hands in the air in front of him; no secrets.

"They want me to have a handler, on the mission _they_ want me to go on?" Bucky asked, scoffing.

"I argued against it but, there were compromises. They wanted to give you a SHIELD escort, which is exactly what they would have been, an escort, not a handler; I told them no way in hell. You get to pick your handler; someone you'd be okay with in the base. I figured Steve but it's up to you."

Bucky stared ahead, thinking; his face stretched into a mischievous grin.

"The kid." He said finally.

"Umm-" Came from a very surprised Tony.

"You know you can't force him into a conversation with you, by making sure he's stuck with you in a HYDRA base?" Clint pointed oubt but realised; Bucky definitely could do that.

"HYDRA bases are big, and deep; we'd be better in teams, with a super soldier on two of them so we're spread out. Steve doesn't need handling, though I disagree some days, while I do; fair enough. The kid has taken me down before." Bucky explained his reasoning; making it up as he went. Tony was frowning, holding his hands to his face, fingertips pressing against his chin; palms pressed together. He looked at Bucky, staring at the soldier's eyes; frowning still. He sighed.

"I don't like it." Tony said, and Clint nodded. "He hasn't seen you in a full…he hasn't seen the Winter Soldier. Not truly."

"Then we hope he doesn't, but we know that if it happens, he'll manage."

"You _don't_ know that. We don't!" Clint said, raising his arms.

"I have high hopes for someone who got stabbed by an _electrically charged spear,_ and is currently at school."

"That…is an annoyingly good point; he also, out of all of us, is the one with the best chance at getting _away_ from Bucky if it goes to shit. Clint and Natasha, maybe, Steve not a chance; you'd stay even if Bucky's taking aim at you. I am undecided." Bucky grinned at Tony, and the other man sighed.

"He is at school; remember. We leave tonight."

"Yes, yes, Clint darling, I'll…sort it out, I guess."

Tony did, while the others were packing. He called May, and waited anxiously while the phone rang.

"Hello?" The woman's voice came.

"May!"

"Tony? My goodness, how are you? I hope you're doing well after-"

"Fighting fit! Doctor's were marvelled by my recovery. I hope I've marvelled you as well because…I kind of have a favour to ask."

"Of course, what's wrong?"

"I need Peter." She didn't respond, but she also didn't hang up. "I've been invited, asked to go on a trip to inspect a lab that's being constructed. It's a bit of a flight, a few hours but… I'll be honest, going into a lab, going anywhere really that isn't home, is a little frightening at the moment."

"How can Peter help?"

"I'd like Peter there, kind of, just as company. He'll be able to see the lab, see how it all works; maybe we can do some small projects there. Any school work can be taken along for him to work on, we'd be gone for roughly a week. I can pick him up today, we leave tonight because that's my life, and I'd really like hi-" May ad been saying his name, over and over again, and Tony had continued to ramble.

"Tony! It's fine. I'm at work so I can't let him know but, I am fine with it. He has been worried about you after the incident at the ceremony, and I know working on projects over the last weekend certainly helped. I'm fine with all of it. Really."

"May, you're the best. I'll call the school, let him know."

"I'm aware and, thank you, Tony. I hope your trip goes well; stay safe."

They hung up after saying farewell; Tony did not call the school, he called Happy, and the two made their way to the campus where Peter attended school.

"So, why are we getting the kid?" Happy asked, as they pulled up outside the school. It must have been lunch, there were students everywhere. Many watched the car as it came to a stop.

"Because my team hates me; be right back." He said, and threw the door open. Tony climbed out and quickly made his way to the front door, taking quick steps up the short flight of stairs and found himself inside the school. He wondered for a few minutes, then saw Peter, the other boy that had been giving him shit at the ceremony; there was a teacher standing with them. There was a bruise forming on Peter's face, near his eye. Peter was arguing with the teacher; and Tony saw blood beneath the boy's nose. _Do not freak. Not today. Not this time._ Tony told himself.

"Peter!" Tony shouted, and felt the eyes of everyone in the hall find him. Tony made his way over to the two teens and the teacher; who did not look very impressed by Tony.

"I'm sorry Mister…"

"Stark." The teacher raised an eyebrow.

"Of course, I'm sorry Mister Stark but, Peter is busy at this time."

"He _should_ be on his way to see a nurse, but here he is, with you looking at him as if you'd rather be doing anything else." Tony was not in the mood.

"Mister Stark, Peter will be seen, after I have been given his accounts of what happened."

"I've already giv-"

"Mister Parker; you're telling me that Mister Thompson shoved you against the locker, for no reason?" Tony's chest roared; he wanted to scream. He took a step forward, and stared at the teacher. An older man, probably close to Tony's age; with a receding hairline and cheap glasses.

"I'm sorry, Mister…actually, I don't care. I don't even see Peter at school, and I know that this Flash kid, because I'm well aware of his name, has been a right piece of trash. I am well aware that he jumped Peter outside school, and beat him so bad he fell to the ground. I have seen Peter with enough bruises that I simply refuse to believe you are so _blind;_ I'm fairly convinced you are actively ignoring the whole matter." Peter was glaring at Tony, and Flash was glaring at Peter.

"Mister Stark, why are you here disrupting these students?"

"Oh! I forgot, kid get your bag and whatever else you need; I think I got here before May could call the school."

"Uhh, Mister Stark what's happening?" Pete asked, an eyebrow raised.

"I have a flight to catch in two hours, and you're meant to be on it. May knows, she said she'd contact the school. Your internship just got really, really complicated. Should be fun though!"

"Hmph, Peter, Mister Stark, please wait here. I will confirm with the office that his Aunt has in fact called." The man said, and stalked away.

"Thank you!" Tony called after the man, and grabbed Peter by the arm. "Let's go!" He said, smiling brightly at the man as he left.

"What?!" Peter cried, and Tony pulled on his arm, leading Peter to the front doors.

Peter fell into step beside Tony, but the man didn't let go; instead, he moved his hand to Peter's shoulder and held tight. They were out front, and at the car within moments. Tony pulled the door open, and motioned for Peter to get in. Peter simply raised an eyebrow and stared at Tony, who huffed into climbed in. Peter followed, and closed the door as he sat down.

"So untrusting my little intern."

"Am I little or favourite?"

"You can be both!"

"Uh…huh… so, why did you just kidnap me from school?"

The car pulled away, and soon they were in traffic.

"It's only kidnapping to them, May does know, however I did tell her I would call the school."

"Why didn't you?"

"Give you warning that I was coming? Pfft, I'd never find you."

"Alright… so where are we going?"

Silence, then "Germany."


	17. Chapter 17 - Not The Fight We Expected

**Chapter 17**

 **Not The Fight We Expected**

 _ **Gemany**_

They had arrived, and were busy disembarking from the jet. Everyone was bundled up to deal with the cold weather outside the base; especially Bucky. Snow was falling softly around them, and no one seemed very happy about it; almost no one, at least.

"Why's the kid wearing a onesie?" Clint asked, looking at Peter; the teenager was only wearing his spiderman suit. He was busy climbing a thick concrete wall, and found a damaged vent cover. He pulled the cover away with no difficulty and quickly disappeared inside the building through the hole that nobody else would fit.

"Built in heaters." Bruce explained. "Spiders don't like the cold."

"Either do birds." Clint muttered, and there was a groan of metal, and soon the door they had found in the snowy wasteland slid open with the sound of metal on concrete filling the air.

"You know, penguins do exist." Peter said, and Clint could hear the boy's grin. Everyone stifled their laughter, and headed into the base.

"Everyone knows their plan?" Steve asked, and receive several thumbs up in return.

"Kid?" Tony asked.

"Yep! 'Cold' is the code-word for things not getting super fun; won't need it!" He said, and bounded away down a flight of metal stairs. Everyone looked at each other, a little bewildered.

"Why's the kid so…" Clint started.

"Peppy?" Natasha offered.

"Seemingly unnerved by the whole 'handler for Bucky' thing." Clint decided on.

Everyone shrugged, and left in their teams. Bucky headed off after Peter, who was waiting on the floor below. They explored the lower floor and found another set of stairs that went down again; they followed it and found a small room with an elevator. Peter and Bucky pulled the doors apart, to find an empty elevator shaft. Peter looked up and saw the elevator at a floor above them; where they had entered.

"Nat, any chance of getting power here?" Bucky asked into his communicator.

"Thor himself couldn't get this place running, sorry Buck." She came back in Bucky's ear. He looked around him, and saw that Peter was gone.

"Kid?" He called out.

"In here, sorry." Peter came back up over the edge of the floor that ended at the empty shaft.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"Checking the trip down." He said, and fired a web at a metal beam on the wall nearby.

"What trip? Where?" Tony voice found Bucky and Peter.

"No need to worry; temperature is sitting at a toasty warm and friendly." Peter said brightly, and motioned to Bucky to come closer. He took a few steps closer, and watched Peter climb the wall opposite him.

"Hope you're an easy passenger!" Peter said, and shot off the wall. He shot out just enough to grab Bucky's arm, and they fell a short distance before the slack of the web was taken up.

"Kid, what the fuck?!" Bucky shouted; he was hanging in the middle of the empty shaft, his arm in Peter's grip.

"I've carried you before, relax! Easy trip from here." Peter said happily, and they began to slowly lower down the shaft. "Also, language."

"You carried me when me and Steve had been near an explosion, inside a jet. This is different."

"Oh is that the only time? Gosh, my memory must be terrible." Peter said, his voice a little too happy; they had all heard it.

"What?" Bucky asked, watching as the ground came closer.

"Uhhh, Bucky, we got found out." Tony came over the communicators, and Peter's suit.

"Found out? The hell you talking about?" Bucky asked, and felt his feet meet the concrete floor. The safe, solid, not suspended in air concrete floor.

Peter dropped in front of him, landing firmly on the ground, then shot out again, swinging up onto a metal railing that ran along a catwalk in the new room. He stood on the railing and looked down, Bucky was checking over the room slowly.

"So, gonna tell me what you apparently found out?" Bucky called out without looking at Peter.

"I'd really rather not!" Peter shouted down to Bucky.

"Come on kid, have a chat with an old man. I don't bite."

"You know; biting is actually the least of my worries." Peter said half-heartedly, but Bucky could feel the sarcasm that covered the words. "Does anyone else have like, the worst headache ever?"

"No actually, mine's downstairs with Bucky." Clint said into his communicator.

"Aww Clint, see if I give your stuff back." Peter said; they could the smile over their communicators.

"What stuff?" Clint asked. "Kid? Come on."

Peter walked along the railing, as Bucky checked the floor level. Peter saw what looked like the medical cots at the tower, and jumped from the railing, landing on top of one. He rubbed some moisture from the glass, and peered inside; it was a simple bed. His eyes moved along the glass, and he saw straps inside the case, where arms and legs would sit.

"Karen, could you take a picture? Send it to Tony." He asked, and the suit happily responded. The back of Peter's neck tingled suddenly, and he pulled back just in time to miss the butt of a gun; it smashed through the glass top of the cot, and Peter saw the metal arm that was holding the gun. He flipped back, and landed on the ground and saw Bucky pull his gun out of the broken cot, glass shards falling to the ground. He stared at the man, and moved when he did; Bucky charged forward, aiming a punch for Peter's head, which the teenager ducked away from and jumped away, landing on a desk nearby. Peter looked at the desk, and saw how neat and tidy it was.

"Hey guys, sorry you said this base was old, hey?" He asked, jumping away again when Bucky charged.

"Super old, what's up? Find something?" Clint answered, as Peter flipped away from Bucky, and landed on his feet at the base of the stairs which lead up to the catwalk.

"Maybe!" Peter shouted back as he dodged the butt of Bucky's gun, and jumped to the metal railing again. Bucky climbed the steps in a few quick steps, and took aim. Peter had to duck quickly to avoid the flurry of bullets; he felt a few of them brush against his suit.

"Come on man, we were doing so well!" Peter called out to Bucky, who had moved closer and was holding his gun in position; ready to fire. "No? it's okay, we don't have to be friends bu- hey!" Peter jumped from the railing, aiming a web at the ceiling and swung away as Bucky began to fire again. "See this is what I meant by the biting being the least of my worries!"

"Kid what did you find?" Tony asked.

"Well, you'd think this place would be…dirtier? You know, after being empty for aWHILE." Peter's voice jumped at the end of his sentence as he saw Bucky; he didn't know how the man had followed him so quickly back to the elevator shaft. Peter stepped back into the shaft, and fired from both wrists, and pulled himself up the shaft as Bucky reached for him; metal hand held open. He came out of the shaft on the level above, but he couldn't see the other stairs they had come down.

"Oh come on!" He whined, and heard footsteps behind him. Bucky had found another way up, and was quickly approaching Peter.

"Kid, how's it going?" Steve asked.

"Well, it's gotten a little chilly." Peter answered, jumping away as Bucky once again, made a jump for him. Bucky swiped out with his gun, and caught Peter in the side with the butt of the weapon. Peter hit the wall nearby, and groaned. He heard Bucky moving over, and quickly scanned the room. _There! A small platform, there's gotta be stairs! I really hope there's a door up there._ Peter thought, and readied himself to move.

"How cold we talking?" Tony asked.

"A little cold." Peter said, scrambling away as Bucky reached him, and jumped clear of the man's foot; he had raised it above Peter's head. "Quite cold, actually. Freezing, really!" Peter shouted as he fired a web at the wall behind the landing, and pulled himself away form Bucky. He landed with a groan on the metal landing and looked at Bucky, who was already moving to find a way to Peter.

"Kid, what's going on?" Tony asked; Peter had found a door, and had kicked it open, and run down into the hallway behind it. His head hurt, so bad; it struck him as soon as he passed the doorway, and he had to stop running so he could focus on making himself breathe.

"I think I'm playing Bucky's version of tag now." Peter said, and rested his body against the wall. His head was pounding. "Seriously? Does no one else have a headache?"

"Steve's been rubbing his since we got here." Tony said, and Peter heard something. "I didn't wanna mention it because well, it's him. I can hardly tell Captain America to pop an aspirin"

Peter followed the soft sound down the hallway, and found a speaker hanging in the corner of the walls. He strained and heard it; words, in a language he didn't know. There was one word, which seemed to be repeated the most.

"What's _vorteil_ mean?" Peter asked, ignoring how badly he must have butchered the word.

"Uhh, definitely sounds german and not good, get Karen to try and translate." Tony offered, and Peter heard footsteps. He groaned and continued running, following the hallway to an open room; it was much like the others with an exception. There was a medical bench in the middle; a table sat nearby with surgical tolls set out, nice and tidy. Organised. Peter realised the medical bench was a surgery table, and the room had been partially set for an operation.

"Karen, can you translate? The word is _vorteil."_ Peter asked, and kept an eye on the doorway he had just come from; Bucky entered the room.

"Yes Peter. V _orteil is_ the german word for 'asset'." Came Karen's voice. Peter tried to think of why that word was important but it proved difficult to think with Bucky getting closer and closer with each attack he threw towards Peter.

"Guys, is the word 'asset' important at all?" Peter called out, jumping onto the medical bed; it's wheels hadn't been locked, and it moved as Peter's weight hit it, sending him into the ground.

"Why do you ask?" Tony's voice was off; it shook.

"It was in the recording!" Peter called out, trying to scramble to his feet, but the bed had caught his foot.

"What recording?"

Peter's eyes opened; _Tony couldn't hear it_. He scrambled again, and pulled his foot free with a sharp tug and fell back into the concrete. His hissed at his shoulder struck the concrete at a painful angle.

"Steve, can you hear it?" Peter asked and got no response. "Steve, you there? Important questions that need answering!" Peter shouted, and felt something grab his ankle; something hard, metallic. Pete felt the hand tighten, and pull; Bucky was dragging Peter, looking away from the boy, staring at one of the medical cots. There was no response to his question; and Peter became frustrated.

"Steve you thick-headed piece of apple pie, you've wanted my attention for ages and now you've got so please, stop ignoring me!" Peter shouted, and heard Bucky whisper something. Peter stared at the ceiling as his ankle throbbed in protest of the tight pressure that was against then, then it stopped. The hand had gone, it had moved; it found Peter's neck and began to squeeze. Peter was laying against the concrete, staring up at Bucky's face, as his metal hand pressed tighter and tighter around the boy's neck. Peter scanned the room, looking for _something._ His vision was beginning to blur, his lungs ached, begging for air.

"Uhh, sorry kid…you cut out..." Steve had obviously heard Peter scolding him. "Kid? What can I hear?"

Peter tried to choke out a reply, but his throat couldn't move any air to allow him to speak. Peter's head ached, and his vision had become so fuzzy; god he wanted to close his eyes. He looked around again; desperately, weakly. He saw the medical bed on the floor. He focused, using the last little bit of energy he had and aimed his wrist at the bed; he fired, and caught the bed with his webbing. Peter knew he wouldn't be able to pull hard enough, so he had the webshooters pull. He felt them buzz as they began to quickly wind the webbing back, and the surgical bed came with it, quickly. Bucky heard the movement, and jumped away before the bed could strike him; a moment too late. It caught his foot, and he fell back onto the ground.

"The kid's right; this place is definitely in use." Natasha came over the suit. 'There's a… looks like a kitchen, it's got a fireplace it looks like, still warm. We only found it because we heard the embers crackling from moisture."

"Tony!" Peter called out, as he came to his feet, and moved; he needed to get out of that room. "How do you normally untrigger Bucky?!"

"How triggered? We normally warm him up, but that only works for small episodes."

"Well, it's all we got!" Peter was running, back the way they had come. Karen had found Clint and Nat's communicator signals; he needed to get to them. "Find stuff to burn! Keep the fire going!" He shouted. His head was throbbing, and he desperately wanted to just collapse onto the ground and spend some time breathing. Just breathing, it felt good to breathe again.

"Kid, what did you ask me about before? I can hear…something, it's soft. Like a song? Tony can't hear it but this suit picked up the audio signal." Steve said.

"Super hearing!" Tony said suddenly. "It's a frequency we can't hear!"

"But I can. Peter can and…Bucky can. Kid, what word did you ask about before. Did you translate it?" Steve asked, and Tony answered.

"Asset."

"Kid, you need to move." Steve's voice was hard.

"Haven't stopped!" Peter called back.

'Fire's going." Nat said.

"Great, now get the hell out of the room!" Peter shouted, he was on the floor. He had been sure to get there by following stairs, so that Bucky could easily keep up.

"We have, we found Steve and Tony. They found…something." Clint said. Peter could smell the smoke. It was close.

"It's a lab." Steve said.

Peter could see the door, and with a powerful burst, ran inside the room and stepped to the side as Bucky followed him in. Peter jumped back, and away, through the doors and pulled them shut with his webs. Peter staggered back, and stood; he could hear Bucky shouting, banging against the doors.

"Thank you, my child." The voice came from behind him; male, with a thick accent. Peter turned to see an older man, likely in his sixties, in the hallway. He was wearing a black hat, and a heavy black coat.

"Who are you?" Peter asked. He was unaware that Karen was broadcasting what Peter was seeing to the team, who had begun to move.

"That is not important, my boy. What is important, is that you brought the asset to me. You are but a child, but certainly quick for the asset to not be able to catch up to you. With us, you would be even greater; you would be strong, unbelievably so. Imagine it, strength that could rival even the avengers. You would rival Captain America himself. You would be welcomed with open arms, to our family."

There was silence, then Peter's body relaxed; he took a step forward, and saw the man smile. Peter moved quickly, once he had reached halfway to the man. Peter ducked as the man pulled his gun from inside his coat and fired; Peter had already ducked, and slid along the floor to the man. Peter kicked out, catching the mans leg and sending him to the floor.

"Steve!" Peter heard a vice shout, as he came to his feet; a pair of hands grabbed his shoulders and pulled him back, throwing him into Tony. Steve stood between Tony and Peter, and the man who was on the floor.

"Steve what the he-" Tony started, but Steve cut him off.

"He doesn't need to see it." Steve said. Peter could hear coughing, and an odd gurgle but he couldn't see past Tony, or Steve. The man wasn't moving and Peter wondered if he had knocked the man unconscious; perhaps his head had hit the ground when he fall. Just how hard had his hit hit the floor? Steve moved away from the body, and headed to the room Natasha and Clint had gone to; they were opening the doors. Peter stared at the man, who still hadn't moved; Tony pulled the boy gently, and they went to find Bucky. Bucky was slumped on the ground, leaning against the wall near the fireplace. Bucky's eyes were open but he wouldn't look away from the ground. Peter stood at the back of the group as they watched Bucky, and left; he crept away, finding his way back to the room he had found the medical bench and surgical tools. He stood at the medical bench, that lay on the ground on it's side.

"Kid?" Tony asked; he had followed.

"Does shield know I'm here?"

"Course not; they don't even know _I_ know you. You are not, to them, a concern. Simply because they don't know." Silence, then Peter rested his hands on the side of the bed, his shoulders were tense.

"Do they need anything from here?"

"No, it was…they wanted Bucky; the entire point, of this base, was to get us here. To get Bucky here."

Peter nodded, and Tony jumped as the boy gripped the medical bench and suddenly, swung it; Peter brought it to his side, before throwing it forward, into the medical cot that was nearby. There was only one; the medical bed crashed through the glass, sending shards everywhere. Peter kicked a scalpel that was on the ground, before turning and leaving the room. Tony stepped beside Peter, and the two walked in silence back to the jet; the others had already moved Bucky.

"Is that guy dead?" Peter asked, breaking the silence.

"…yeah."

"…I didn't mean to knock him down so hard." Peter said, and Tony grabbed his shoulders, pulling him to a stop. Tony faced Peter and looked at the teen.

"You took down someone who wanted to shoot you; the didn't know about you kid. They thought you were like Natasha or Clint, or me; they thought shooting you _would_ kill you. You stopped someone from shooting you with the intention of killing you, and you stopped them from getting Bucky."

"But-"

"Kid, it's… HYDRA agents, they do it to themselves. They munch down on cyanide pills, like cowards. It happened to Steve, minutes after he woke up after the serum process. The man who killed people in that room, the man who Steve chased, killed himself when Steve found them; he didn't want you to see it. Today sucked, this whole mission sucked but holy shit kid; I am glad we brought you." Tony finally breathed, and let go of Peter's shoulders. The boy didn't respond as they walked back to the jet and climbed a board; the set off a few minutes later, the auto-pilot taking over so that Tony could get something to drink. He sat in the back, watching Natasha and Clint playing some card game. By Clint's annoyed sighs, Tony guessed that Natasha was winning.

"Where's the kid?" Clint asked, not looking away from Natasha's hands.

"Hiding, but not trying very hard." Steve said as he joined the group, sitting near Tony. "He's laying on the bed in the pilot's room."

"He had a tough day." Bruce added to the conversation as he stood behind Tony, resting his arms on the back of his friend's chair.

"Any luck?" Tony asked.

"It wasn't…part of the programming so much, as playing on it. Bucky no longer has the programming, which they must know by now but they were able to…play on his fears. The words were basically reminding Bucky of who he was, why he was here there, what was going to happen; nothing friendly. I suppose Bucky's mind just…slipped back? He wasn't fighting Peter-"

"Beg to differ." Tony added, and was shot a nasty look by Bruce, who continued what he was saying.

"He was fighting who he _thought_ Peter was; he was trying to escape the base, and to him, Peter must have been an agent or some kind of HYDRA member, trying to keep Bucky there."

Tony finished his drink and went to refill it. Steve let out a sigh and looked at Tony, and followed him.

"Tony-" Steve started when others couldn't hear them.

"Nup, nope, no apologies out of you Rogers." Tony held a hand up, careful not to spill his lemonade.

"Tony! I'm not- It's like talking to a child. Is he alright? The HYDRA guy was able to talk to him…"

"Well, I told him the guy offed himself."

"What?! Why did you do that?! I moved him away for a reason!"

"Because he thought he killed the guy!" Tony shouted, and threw his cup back onto the counter.

"Why did he think…"

"He figured he had knocked he guy down too quickly, and smashed the guy's head into he ground or…something. Things don't really make sense after something like what happened today. I figured… it'd help, if he knew it would have happened no matter what. I also…god I think I had a heart to heart with him earlier, after he threw a fucking surgical table across a room. I always forget he can do that kind of stuff."

"What kind of heart to heart?"

"Ignoring the table thing? Alright. He… he needed to know, that what he did today, was good. Really, really good. The guy had no idea about Peter; we heard it. They knew he was quick, that was it. Can you imagine? Peter working for a side like that?"

"I think we all did, while the guy was talking to Peter. Peter just...starting walking over to him. Tony, I couldn't believe it. I was thinking to myself, did he hate us that much, he'd help the other side?"

Steve and Tony rejoined the group, the conversation playing on both their minds.

Peter was laying on the bed he had found, not asleep; his eyes were closed, and he was enjoying the silence when he felt someone sit on the bed, at the edge. Peter smiled, and didn't open his eyes when he spoke.

"Mister Stark, I'm fine. Bruce even said so; he was pleased I wasn't dying."

"I'll let Tony know, he'll be glad to hear it." Bucky said, and Peter's eyes opened; slower than Bucky expected, but the look of suspicion on Peter's face was obvious.

"Hi?" Peter said; it sounded like a question more than a greeting.

"Did I wake you up?"

"No, I'm just a little suspicious as to why you're checking on me."

"I'm not checking on you; as you said, Bruce already did." Bucky smirked at Peter, waiting for the boy to tell him to just leave.

"Okay…I guess…" Peter rested his head back into the pillow and stared at the ceiling; Bucky didn't move. Peter decided he'd deal with it; he could relax with Bucky there - he'd force himself to.

' _ **Gemany' is the alternative title for this chapter; I mistyped Germany when doing my temporary title, and kind of liked it.**_

 _ **The word translation from german was done through google, and worked both ways but, if it isn't actually usable as a word, sorry!**_


	18. Chapter 18 - Tony's Winners

**Chapter 18**

 **Tony's Winners**

"What were the cot things? They weren't like our medical cots." Peter finally asked, ending the silence.

"Cryo-beds, deep freeze." Bucky answered.

"I broke one."

"How'd you do that? Also, when?"

"When you were in the room upstairs with everyone else. I threw that surgical bed at it."

"You did like throwing it."

"I pulled it the first time, there was no throwing involved." Peter kept his eyes closed; he didn't want to look at Bucky. He didn't want to see his face; his eyes.

"Also, you _were_ dying; throwing would have been difficult."

"I was-"

"You definitely were dying; that was the entire _point._ " Bucky hissed out; he hadn't meant to. He was glad that Peter didn't move, then he worried; Peter hadn't moved _at all._ He hadn't even flinched.

"Kid-"

"Hey kiddos! Hope I'm not interrupting." Clint bounded into the room, grinning like a cat who had cornered a mouse. Bucky looked at Peter and realized, he was already sitting up. He was leaning back against the wall, one leg up, while the other laid flat against the bed.

"Not at all, I was just asking Bucky about a book I borrowed."

"Ohh, that sounds like school work." Clint frowned; Bucky had to hide his confusion. Peter hadn't borrowed a- _oh._

"Yeah, you came in as I was asking a question so, I guess maybe you could help as well." Peter said, his face as serious as ever.

"I'll try kiddo!" Clint was smiling.

"Okay so, there was one chapter, it was a little boring but got interesting towards the end, but I'm stuck on a phrase that was used." Clint and Bucky nodded, listening intently. "What does it mean by the phrase 'raging b-"

"Do not finish that sentence!" Tony shouted from another room. Clint choked, on his own shock. "Never, ever, finish that sentence!"

Steve came to find Peter and Bucky; both eyebrows raised. Clint had already left, spluttering something they couldn't quite understand.

"Uhh, why is Tony having the biggest freakout ever?" He asked, eyeing Bucky suspiciously. The metal armed man was smirking, and Peter had a thin smile on his own lips.

"Kid was asking me about the book he borrowed from me, that's all."

"What book- oh my god, Bucky!" Steve's cheeks went red, and he glared at his friend before leaving the room. "I can't tell which one is corrupting which!" He shouted out, likely to Tony.

"Well that was… an interesting interlude." Bucky said, and looked back to Peter. "Back to the conversation then?"

"Uhhh…"

"Come on kid, what's it gonna take? I asked for you to be the handler entirely for the purpose of you being stuck with me; so I could make you talk. You're good at it when you're fighting me."

"It felt more like running away, if I'm honest."

"If I'm honest, chasing you kind of sucks."

Peter let out a weak laugh, and gave Bucky a thin smile.

"Steve got you away from the guy, huh?"

"After I got him to the ground. I thought I'd killed him; Mister Stark explained what had actually, you know, happened." Peter shrugged, as if it was so simple.

"Why do you call him that?"

"Call who what?"

"Stark; why do you call him Mister Stark?"

"Why do you call him Stark?" Peter snapped back; he was tired, and wanted to be alone

"Don't avoid the question."

"I'm not, I'm just not answering it." Peter said, and moved off of the bed. He moved past Bucky, waiting for the man to grab him but Bucky didn't move.

"Fine then, a different one?"

"Go ahead." Peter was near the door; he was ready. They were lowering the plane, ready to land; they had arrived at the Tower.

"Why do you avoid us? What do we have to do?" Bucky was standing now, not sure if he should grab Peter or not. _No, the door isn't open yet. He can't leave._

"When I can look at both of you, without imaging you snapping my neck, or bludgeoning me to death with one of your symbols, come find me." Peter snapped, and he ran. The run to the landing ramp wasn't long, and it had only opened a small amount. The others were standing waiting. Peter ran past and dropped, startling Natasha and Clint, who he had run between. He dropped to his side and threw himself along the ground, sliding through the small gap that had opened as the ramp began to lower. They hadn't yet reached the ground, but he landed firmly on his two feet, and quickly made his way into the Tower. He didn't really think about it, but he found himself in the training room on the lower floor.

Thor was already here; his brother was standing next to him. Peter stared at the two men, but was leaving the room by the time they had turned to look at him. It was late, and Peter was restless; more importantly, he was upset. Tears stung at his eyes as he pulled his suit on, and made his way to the roof of the Tower. Peter stood at the edge of the roof and stared out at the skyline. He took in a deep breath of the cold night air, and threw himself from the roof, like he had done while Loki was there. Thunder rumbled, and rain began to pour as Peter swung around the city. He enjoyed being on the rooftops; so he would sometimes just walk along them, swinging to new ones when he reached the edge of the current roof. He sat down on the edge of a roof, finally deciding to just sit; he leant back against a small storage room that was on the top of the building, and stared at the city. Peter sat and thought, before standing up and beginning the trip back to the Tower; making sure to take his time. He landed on the roof around nine o'clock at night, and pulled his mask off once he had landed. He looked over to where he usually kept his suit, and saw someone waiting. Tony was sitting on the floor, leaning against the air conditioning unit; he was wrapped in a blanket, and was asleep. Peter stared at his mentor, a little confused by what he was seeing.

Peter shook his head and laughed; what a strange sight. He shook Tony, but the man didn't wake, so Peter scooped him up and carried him into the tower. Friday had the elevator ready to go to the penthouse, so Peter carried Tony there, then to his bed. Peter dropped his mentor into the large bed and laughed as the man finally woke up; Tony tied to flail his arms but he was trapped in the blanket; he shot a nasty glare at the blanket, then he saw Peter standing next to the bed.

"Kid?"

"Hello." Peter said bright; smiling.

"Why am I in my bedroom? Why are _you_ in my bedroom?"

"Why were you asleep on the roof?"

"Aww, and I tried so hard not to fall asleep too." Tony said with a sigh, unwrapping the blanket from himself. Peter laughed turning away from Tony.

"Kid? Where'd you go?"

Peter stopped at the doorway and rested a hand on the wood frame, looking back at Tony.

"Just…a walk, I suppose."

"Minus the actual walking?"

"I walked, I was on rooftops but I was walking on them."

Tony laughed and climbed off of the bed, looking at Peter.

"Did you have any plans for tonight, then?" Tony asked.

"Bed I suppose."

"Movie instead?"

Peter hesitated before nodding, and the two sat in the couch in Tony's penthouse living room, and settled in to watch whatever was on; another documentary. The room was dark except for the soft glow from the screen, and the soft blue glow from Tony's chest. Tony was sitting in one corner of the couch, while Peter was laying down; sprawled out across the remainder of the couch. Tony looked over at the teen, and saw that Peter was mouthing words to himself, then frowning, and starting to speak silently again.

"Kid? You alright?" Tony asked, nudging the boy's leg.

'Huh? Oh sorry, just…practicing." Peter's face flushed red; apparently he hadn't expected Tony to notice.

'What for?"

"…decathalon."

"Ohhh, competition coming up?"

"Yeah it's…a big one, and I don't want to screw it up."

"You just de-triggered the Winter Soldier then slid your way out of a plane to avoid a conversation. You'll be fine kid." Tony said, smiling at Peter. "When is it?"

"Wednesday, we're staying at some hotel for the night, then we come back on Thursday."

Tony nodded; he was making mental notes of what Peter was up to. He had to show the boy he did care.

"I wish May could come." Peter said suddenly.

"Work?" Tony asked, and the boy nodded.

"I don't…want you to arrange it, Mister Stark. She's wanted this job for years, it's just the training takes up heaps of time. Things'll go back to normal." Peter said softly. He was smiling, looking at the tv screen but not watching what was on.

"Just gotta be patient." Tony said, smiling.

"Says you." Peter grinned, glancing at Tony.

Wednesday morning came, and Peter was at the hotel with the team. Peter and Ned were assigned a room together, and the rest of the team were in the rooms on either side of theirs. They were all at the pool, enjoying their morning before the competition that afternoon, when a staff member found them.

"Is there a Mister Parker here?" The man asked, and Peter slowly raised his hand.

"Ah good, there is someone at the front desk for you, sir." The man said, and left the group. Peter slowly pulled himself out of the pool, his shorts and shirt dripping with water. He squeezed what water he could from his shirt and grabbed his towel.

"Be right back!" he called to his group. "Don't rush!" Flash shouted back. Peter smirked. He was worried; he didn't want Tony to turn up. Actually, he'd prefer Tony to Steve or Bucky. He saw a woman leaning against the front desk. _Natasha?_ She saw Peter, and flashed him a smile as he walked over to her.

"Morning kiddo." She said, her red hair blowing in the breeze that came through the open doors that lead to the pool area.

"Uhh…morning." Peter wasn't upset to see her, just very confused.

"Tony asked me to drop something off, not that I'm on my way to work or anything." She said, rolling her eyes but smiling as she held an envelope out to Peter.

"So, you all communicate via cards then?" Peter asked, smirking. He quickly went back to the pool, and sat on a pool chair next to the one Ned was in.

"Watcha got Peter?" Ned asked, watching Peter open the envelope and pull out a card.

"An iron man card? Who sent you that, your Mum?" Flash teased.

"Dead people don't tend to send cards." Peter said, not looking at Flash; he said it so lightheardly now, ignoring the heaviness in his stomach. Peter groaned, and passed the card to Ned.

Hello favourite (and only) intern!

Work sucks so I am stuck here! Won't be able to make it – until dead on the competition starting! Hurray! Tell your team to decide on somewhere for celebratory dinner for when you guys smash it. My treat!

I'm not sure who else is coming, so, there might be lots of us, or just me! Yay surprises!

Love,

Your favourite Mentor

Ned laughed at the card and handed it back to Peter.

"What's it say?" A girl on their team asked. Peter shrugged and passed her the card. She squealed and the group quickly passed it around, missing out on Flash, before returning it to Peter.

"That's so nice of him!" The blonde girl said, smiling at Peter. "Where should we go though? I don't know anywhere nearby."

"Ooh, what about that place near the place we're competing? With the fountains and-"

"No Flash!" Another girl shouted. "That's awful! That place is expensive! We can pick somewhere more simple I'm sure." Peter laughed, and they all looked at him.

"What's up Peter?" The blonde girl asked.

"I don't know if he was ever taught the definition of simple but we can try."

The team forgot about the card and Tony's promise of dinner, and enjoyed their day in the pool before getting ready and heading to the competition venue. Soon, they were in their seats, ready.

"Oh is that him?" The blonde girl asked, pointing at a group finding their seats in the back of the crowd. Tony was waving at them; he was grinning like an idiot, and had somehow got a cap with their school on it from the gift shop, despite him being barely on time.

Peter groaned. "He's like an embarrassing dad I never asked for." He still smiled, and the group fell silent as the speeches began, then the competition.

At the end, the were tied. They _needed_ the next answer to win, and they all knew it. The present approached the microphone and began.

"This question, is a two parter. Both answers must be correct to get the point. First part – what language is the word _vorteil_ from? Second part – what does it mean, when translated to English?"

Peter hit their button without thinking; his team cast him a mixture of looks, most worried, Flash was pissed. None of them had studied the german language, it had never been used in previous competition rounds.

"Vorteil is from the german language and translates to 'asset'." He said, barely breathing between words. There was a pause, and the screen behind the woman ticked over, adding their point; they had won. The team shouted, and jumped from their seats; the team couldn't believe it. Peter was pulled in for hugs from everyone except Flash, when a man's arm found his shoulder and pulled him close.

"Told ya!" Tony said, grinning down at Peter, who was smiling back. "Bucky's good for something at least. So, did we decide on dinner?" He asked looking at the team; they had. They'd picked a nice restaurant nearby, that was still affordable. Tony grinned, and lead them outside, where there was a limo waiting.

Peter glanced at Tony, who shook his head. "The winning team would have got a limo anyway, I just happened to hire it for them, so that we could go to dinner in style." Peter accepted it, not wanting to ruin the mood, and climbed in. Tony tapped on the dividing glass and they were off. It didn't take long until they were at the restaurant, and Tony opened the door first, stepping out and holding it open for the team. Peter could hear the water before he limbed out; it was exactly as Flash had described it. A huge building, with an entirely glass front, two large fountains on either side of the entryway. Peter cast Tony a look, and the man pretended not to see it but he was grinning.

"My winners aren't eating just anywhere, come on now, they got a table ready." He said and lead them inside, up a large glass staircase, and to a long table on the second floor. The table was laid out with a black tablecloth, white napkins, and balloons from each chair in the school colours. There was excited chatter as everyone found their seats. There we two seats left, the head seat, and the one to the left of it. Peter went to sit in the seat to the side, and frowned when Tony quickly slid into it, leaving only the head seat empty. He rolled his eyes, and sat in the seat, glaring at Tony for a second, before smiling. Waiters began to arrive, and the multi-course dinner began. Chatter at the table was loud, and excited; even Tony joined in, chatting to the students as the meal carried on. The meal ended with cake, and the group left the restaurant and found the limo again, ready to take them back to the hotel.

"You dropping us off mister Stark?" Ned asked and Tony shook his head. "Important meetings tomorrow morning, gotta get back in time! Enjoy the rest of your night winners! Oh peter! The team got you a present as well!" Tony said and gave them all a wave, except for Peter; he pulled the boy in for a quick hug before making his escape. Peter laid in bed that night, and texted Tony.

Spider-kid: No meetings tomorrow. Day off w/ Bruce. You kept talking about it

Iron-Dude: Don't worry bout it

Spider-Kid: Bit late

Iron-Dude: Just enjoy your night

Iron-Dude: Also, don't wear your shirt when swimming. Are you five?

Spider-Kid: Hides the muscle I shouldn't have

Spider-Kid: Also, don't avoid telling me stuff so I don't worry

Iron-Dude: If I tell you, will you accept the congratulations gift the rest of the team got you?

Spider-Kid: I'll even hug Clint thank you

Iron-Dude: Don't punish yourself

Iron-Dude: I don't like being out in public – too risky. No one knew I was going, that's why I told you with the card. They would've known I was there eventually. Not being responsible for kids being blown up.

Peter put his phone on the bedside table, and quickly fell asleep. The next morning was a rush as everyone quickly ate breakfast, then packed up and headed back to school, to then go home. Peter was picked up from school by Happy, and found himself in the kitchen of the Tower. _Where did the morning go?_

The Tower was quiet; it often was, but this quiet felt odd. Peter put his bag down on a couch, and went for a walk. No one in the lab, no one in the library, no one in the training room. Peter decided to check the bedrooms, surely someone was here? They had known he was coming, Tony wouldn't shut up about the gift on the phone all morning, texting him to remind Peter of the deal they had made. He wondered down the hall but, the bedrooms were shut, not allowing him entry; no one was here. He looked down the hall again as he was leaving and saw that the guest room door was ajar. The room was only ever used when he was here, why had the door been left open? He walked back, slowly and stood at the door; why was he so nervous? _They don't care. No one's here._ Peter thought to himself, as he pushed the door open. The room was dark, so Peter leant in through the doorway and flicked on the light switch, and he gasped. The room had been…decorated.

It was still simple, with the same furniture, the same large windows. The windows had been dimmed by Friday, apparently to conceal the surprise. The bedspread was different; it was black, with a logo of each of the team members in a line across it. The pillow cover was a solid black, with the avengers A in the center. He looked at the bedspread, noting that only one spider was on it. His eyes moved, to the desk, it was cleaned off of it's dust, and any marks left by pens, and a new computer sat on it. It was brilliant and clean, and white; the shelf along the wall above the desk held small figurines, one of each hero. There was even a Loki one, T'Challla as well. The rest of the room was simple; a whiteboard had been added to the wall near the door, there were new curtains, soft and white, on the window. His eyes moved to the closet door; it would be empty, but, he could put away his bag for the time being. He walked over and opened the door, to see if his bag would definitely fit, he had never really put anything in the closet which, was larger than he expected. The door opened to reveal the inside of the closet; clean, off-white with a row of soft lights running along the top of the wall inside it. Peter stared at the item hanging from the bar in the closet, his shirt from Loki; it was clean. There was something to the side, further along the bar, almost hidden. Peter reached in and grabbed the item, pulling it along the bar to where he could see it. It was his suit.

Peter stared and frowned; no, it wasn't. It was new. He ripped the hanger from the bar and dropped it, holding the suit in his hands; it was very similar to the other one, design wise, but it felt lighter. The fabric was cool, and seemed to shimmer in the light, much like his shirt. The suit shimmered bright for a second, and changed; it faded from red to purple, to blue, to a bright red with gold details, and again and again, cycling through all the colours of the team, before finally returning to normal. He heard noises outside, in the living room, talking.

"Alright, are we ready? Do we need to do anything else before he arrives?" Clint asked, and Peter heard a soft thud as something was dropped.

"Nope, got everything ready, start setting up." Tony said, and there was the noise of plastic bags rustling.

"He does like this flavour, right Tony?" Steve asked, and Tony scoffed. Insulted the man had asked.

"Yes Rogers, it's his favourite. You did fine." Tony answered.

"Good afternoon everyone; Mister Parker has already arrived." Friday announced, and there was a shattering sound as glass fell.

"What?!" Came the voices of everyone, including Thor.

"He arrived approximately twenty minutes ago, and has spent the time searching for the team in the tower."

"Well where is he now?" Tony asked, and Friday answered that Peter was in fact, in the guest room. "Aww fuck." Tony said, and they all looked down the hallway as they saw that the door, had in fact, been opened.

 _ **Thank you to everyone for the follows and reviews! I appreciate both so much!**_

Thank you SongNoFound! I love the reviews, I'm got up to Chapter 25 written, just need to edit!


	19. Chapter 19 - Bad Dreams

**Chapter 19**

 **Bad Dreams**

It was Tony, who went to the door. He looked in, not wanting to alarm Peter and was shocked, but silently pleased by what he saw. Peter had at some point, brought his bag in; apparently after a quick trip home, and had placed each card he had gotten from the team on the shelf above the desk. The drawing from Steve, which Tony hadn't seen or known about, was stuck to the whiteboard with some magnets that Tony saw, were tiny Captain America shields.

He watched as Peter carefully hung up some clothes in the closet, and shut the door gently. Peter turned, and saw Tony; the teen freeze, staring at Tony who was in the doorway.

"No running off." Tony said as Peter gave a soft, "Thank you." Tony stared at the boy, and the words crashed over him.

"What?" Tony asked, wanting to hear it again. He whispered the word, worried that Peter would change his mind.

"This…all we did was win a decathlon…"

"Do you think that's all this is for?"

"What else would it be for?"

"I missed your birthday."

"I didn't tell you, if you recall. That's not your fau-"

"I missed your birthday, you saved my ass from Bucky, you got every single one of us to the medbay after there was an explosion in the jet, you stopped a crane from killing the princess of Wakanda, you detriggered Bucky and you stopped a car bomb from killing me. I'm sure I'm forgetting other things but kid…the room was always yours, I don't know I never corrected you when you called it the guest room. It's yours."

Peter looked around the room again, then turned to Tony; Peter was smiling, his eyes wide and bright.

"When you say it like that…" Peter smiled, and left the room with Tony, to find everyone in the lounge. There were some red and blue balloons on the floor, a few small presents and, a cake. It was a chocolate cake, that was decorated neatly with icing, and a spiderman candle.

"Steve made it." Tony said, patting Steve on the back.

"Your aunt gave me the recipe." Steve said, and he saw Peter's eyes shine. "She…didn't seem very keen on giving it up."

"My…Mum's recipe; she made it when I was a kid, for everyone's birthday. May still does, mostly for mine…" Peter was pushed onto one of the couches, and began to open presents; a new hoodie with Ironman's face on the back of it, a set of headphones, some new shirts, and three books.

"Who got you books?" Tony asked, raising an eyebrow and looking at the group. Bucky was grinning back, and Tony's eyebrows shot upwards. There was an envelope in his hand, which he dropped as he reached out for the books Peter was holding.

"Nuh-uh, they're _my_ presents." Peter teased as he jumped back from the reaching hand, and stood on the back of the couch. Clint had realised what the books were, and made a grab too. He missed, and Peter easily leapt to the other couch, then jumped to the floor.

"Party first!" Steve shouted, and Tony went still. Clint frowned, but went back to his seat. Peter put the books and his gifts into his room, and joint the others. They ate the cake, and Peter had to stop himself crying as they ate; it was such a reminder, of everything. The day went by quickly, they hung out for a little after eating then watched a movie together, and then Peter got his books from his room, and ran out of the tower. _His room._

The words echoed around his head. As he read one of the books, enjoying the story; it was about the war, and apart from some choice curse words, wasn't very adult at all. He didn't know that Clint had seem him outside reading through the window in the tower. Clint went to the lab where Bruce and Tony were working.

"Hey Ton-" Clint was startled when Tony spun suddenly in his chair, and faced Clint.

"Yes my winged darling?" Tony said, he was smiling; it made Clint feel a little weird. It wasn't a smirk, or a nasty grin. It was just a smile.

"Umm oh! Sorry, had a question for you."

"Well go ahead!"

"What. The. Fuck. Is. Wrong. With. The. Kid?" Clint asked, pausing between words.

"Is he smiling? I was afraid that might happen." Bruce said, not looking away from a notepad he was busy scribbling on.

"He's reading."

"What?!" Tony suddenly shouted, jumping from the chair. "Whoa, whoa whoa, a teenager, our teenager, is _reading?_ What the fuck Clint? It's those books from Bucky, isn't it? God dammit!"

"Oh my god, shut up!" Clint shouted and grabbed Tony's arm, pulling the man after him as he went back to the window in the library. He let go of Tony and dramatically, with both hands, pointed at the window. Tony stepped closer, and stared in disbelief.

"What the fuck?" Tony asked.

"Thank you!" Clint shouted.

They could see Peter, he was on the field, hanging from a light post. His legs were hooked over the pole, knees hugging the metal, reading.

"He's up-side fucking down!" Tony shouted, as Bucky and Steve joined them.

"So he is." Steve said, as the two came to the window.

"What's wrong with him?!" Clint shouted, and left the room. The others watched through the window, then followed after Clint, as the man was headed to the football field.

"Kid!" Clint shouted and Peter looked up – down? - from his book, and raised an eyebrow. His curly hair was falling towards the earth.

"Hello? No baseball today, sorry."

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Clint demanded; Tony and Steve put their face in their hands, the group was watching from further back.

"Wow, making up for all the late birthday kindness huh?" Peter was grinning, looking at his book again.

"You're upside down!"

Peter looked at Clint slowly, a look of quizzical confusion on his face.

"Didn't you grow up in the circus?" Peter asked, and both Tony and Bucky let out loud laughs.

"God I wish we'd left you in Wakanda." Clint muttered, everyone heard. Tony was ready to kill him, and Steve was ready to stop Tony. Clint looked from the group back to Peter, who was now standing up on the light post, feet positioned carefully on the thin metal beam. Peter looked upset, angry, Clint couldn't decide. _I fucked up._ He thought to himself.

"Steeeeeevveee" Peter whined, and the word smacked Steve in the chest. "Clint's being a _bully."_

"Ummm…." Steve couldn't find words, but he didn't need to. They all saw as Peter's upset face moved into a mischievous grin, that felt too much like Bucky to Steve.

"Hey Clint, where's your quiver?" Peter asked, then jumped. The web grabbed hold of another light post and he swung, throwing himself at the tower and easily grabbing the side of the building.

"Fuck!" Clint shouted, and watched as Peter quickly climbed the tower, but stopped near the roof. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and answered it as he pulled himself onto the roof. They watched him fiddle with his phone, then put it back into his pocket before racing off onto the roof. Tony's phone beeped in his pocket, and he pulled it out to see that Peter had texted him.

"Shit." He said, reading the three-word text.

 _May in hospital._

May was fine, she hadn't eaten much during the day and combined with her long training day, she'd passed out on her way home on the train. She was home that night, resting while Peter busied himself making dinner and cleaning the apartment. He told her about the competition, about Tony and the dinner, about how good the trip was while she waited. Finally, they were both resting, watching the TV, enjoying each other's silent company. They enjoyed their quiet night together, and they went to bed a little later than normal. Peter was asleep when his phone sounded with a text.

He rolled over and picked it up; checking the sender. He didn't recognise the number.

?: Hi Peter, hope your Aunt is doing okay. Tony said she went to the hospital. Do you need anything?

Spider-Kid: She's doing fine, just needed to eat.

?: Good to hear. Glad you liked your present.

Spider-Kid: Sorry, who is this?

?: Steve. I thought Tony would have put me in your phone. You can save my number if you want.

?: No weird names though please.

Spider-Kid: No worries, Captain.

Apple-Pie: Great. Glad to hear things are okay.

Apple-Pie: When are you here next? We have a mission; Tony wants you there for briefing. Won't say why.

Spider-Kid: Uhh, after school I guess?

Apple-Pie: See you then.

Peter put his phone down on the nightstand, and fell asleep. His nightmare that night was one of the worst; he woke up at half past six, and realised the dream had made him sweat. He took a quick shower, before beginning to get ready for school. He made sure that May had some breakfast ready in the fridge, and left for school a little earlier than normal, he wanted to take the long way.

School went by quickly, he didn't see Flash at all during the day, not even out front when he left school and headed for the tower. Happy pulled up alongside him, and Peter gave the man a warm smile as he hopped into the car. Peter got to the lounge before the others. He fell onto the couch as Steve walked into the room and sat in an armchair. He texted Ned as he waited, and heard Clint walk in.

"Afternoon Kid, who ya texting?" Clint eased, walking up behind the couch. "Ya boyfriend?"

Peter looked at Steve, then at Clint with his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"But Steve's already here? Why would I need to text him? Admittedly I was waiting for Bucky but Steve got here first, so I figured well why not get a third person i-" Peter was interrupted by a book hitting his chest; he saw Tony standing near the couch, looking mortified.

"Do not finish that, you know I have a bad heart." Tony pleaded. 'You're gonna be the death of me kid."

"Funny, I've been the opposite recently." Peter grinned as Tony shot him an amused smirk; amused, but not pleased about it.

"You're gonna get Cap into trouble." Clint said, and Tony saw that Steve was looking rather flushed.

"Why's Steve in trouble?" Bucky asked as he came in with Natasha.

"Fraternising with a minor."

"You said you'd wait for me!" Bucky said at Peter, and the teen grinned back. Evidently, Bucky had been listening.

"Good god, I can feel my last few normal hairs turning grey as you speak. Please, no more, I can't take the hits to my vanity any longer." Tony whined, and passed out folders to everyone except Peter. Peter raised his eyebrows at Tony, who quickly looked away.

"So, mission tim-"

"Where's the kids?" Clint asked.

"Well you see-"

"He's here because he was asked, Tony what's going on?" Steve was curious now as well. Tony sighed and ran his hands through his hair.

"I don't _want_ him here, it wasn't my idea jerkasses so shut up for a moment."

"Ooh, the truth hurts; carry on." Peter said, smiling brightly at Tony.

"God I am not ready fo- Okay! Okay, settled? Good, mission briefing time. On Saturday night the will be an exhibition and question session, and some speeches, that I have been invited to; some science thing. Bruce, has also been invited, we are apparently guests, Bruce is a special guest because the whole expo is centred on what he studi- Okay, good, clear? Sure we'll say yes. Point is, SHIELD and my own company are worried about us being there."

"You're targets." Steve realised, and said it without really thinking.

"Bingo my lovely piece of apple pie. They're worried about another attack of some sort, we can't even guess as to how big it will be; the university was a series of them, where the car bomb was a single explosion. They want you lot there in the background, a security; they want you look for any little fucking thing to see if _anything_ has been planted, or left, or planned."

"So why am I here?" Peter asked; his eyes had settled into the look of unsureness that Tony hated. A look of Peter saying, he didn't trust them. Not in that moment.

"They…it's my own fault, really. They wanted to know how you found the lab in the basement, easily explained by Karen. How did you get them out? Simple, webs and you're strength. How did you know about the bomb, manage to get yourself _and_ an unconsciousness grown man behind a table in seconds, before it blew up? We scanned footage of the bomb, there was no beeping; there was no audio detectable to _anyone_ without super hearing. They know Steve and Bucky didn't tell you, so they figured you hard it. They…I might have explained your senses, to an extent, just saying you can detect small things, noises, smells, whatever. Enhanced senses, they don't know about the…spidey senses."

"You're avoiding the answer." Steve said, and Peter smiled, a very Clint smile. Tony didn't like it. It was fake; hiding the fact that Peter really, wasn't sure about the group.

"I'm aware, thank you. They want…they want Spiderman there, to detect stuff; they want him as my bodyguard. I don't." Tony said the words, and waited for Peter to leave. The boy sat there, that same Clint-esque smile on his face. _God, I hate that face._ Tony thought.

"I…said no, it's not his problem; he has other things to do…and they had the fucking… _nerve_ to suggest I take my intern. ' _He took a bomb for you once, what's a second time'_? Tony spat out the words. "I don't see any of them volunteering for the job."

"They suggested your intern? Your teenage intern?" Clint asked; it had touched a nerve.

"Do I get a bigger certificate this time?" Peter asked, and all the eyes in the room looked at him.

"Absolutely fucking not." Tony said. "Because, you are _not doing it."_

Peter kept smiling, and got up from the couch. He put his hands into the pocket on the hoodie he was wearing.

"Kid no, we're not arguing over it." Tony held his hands up, and turned away; Peter could end a war with his puppy eyes.

"May knows I go into your lab; does she know I was attacked in it?" Peter asked, innocently. Tony stopped, he didn't turn around, he just waited. He had frozen. "I mean…what would my _Aunt May_ do to Tony Stark, if she found out that he hadn't mentioned that a known _assassin_ had attacked her nephew? Her only nephew, her only remaining family."

"You'd be in trouble too. You wouldn't tell her." Tony turned to face Peter while he spoke; Peter wasn't smiling like Clint anymore; it as his own smile, that felt far too much like Bucky.

"You're still worried though." Peter said, and Tony knew the kid was right.

"I am _not_ being convinced of this; Aunt May or not." Tony said, then quickly headed for the elevator.

"I'll wear the shirt." Peter said, loud enough for Tony to hear him. Tony peeked back around the corner, from the hallway.

"What shirt?" Tony asked, and Peter's smile grew wider.

"The one from Thor and Loki; I'll wear it, bright red and gold, Ironman symbol on the very front pocket. For everyone to see."

Tony's eyes widened, and he went back around the corner. No answer, no response but, Peter didn't seem to mind. That night, Tony came into the kitchen to find Steve sitting on the couch, eyes on the TV but not watching the program. Tony slumped into the couch beside the Captain, he was frowning.

"Who won?" Steve asked, not looking over.

"It's like negotiating with a tiny terrorist; a terrorist with a scary Aunt and unfair bargaining tools."

"I take it you didn't win." Steve showed no emotion on his face.

"If it goes to shit, kill me before his Aunt does, promise me Steve; give me that dignity in death."

"How scary is she?"

Tony thought for a moment.

"Okay so imagine Natasha." He said, Steve nodded, still not looking over. "Now imagine Clint." Another nod. "Now imagine Peter was their child. Now walk over, and stab Peter in the eye. His Aunt his both of those people combined."

Steve laughed; it was a warm, genuine laugh, and Tony was glad to hear it. He was not glad why Steve was laughing though.

"I'd rather go back in the ice; sorry Tony."

"Fat lot of good you are apple pie. What are you watching?"

"Some documentary I think, about animals…seem to be the common thing that's on in the morning lately."

"You been up a lot?"

"…yeah, the last few weeks, I think after HYDRA and…everything."

"Can't say I blame ya. Least you're not breaking mirrors."

"I tend to stay away from that, lest I hit the sink and break that as well."

"What do you do instead?"

"I draw mostly."

"Did you draw the picture that's on Peter's whiteboard?"

"Wait, he put that up?"

"Yeah, and like, every card we've ever gotten him."

Steve was smiling now, which also made Tony glad. Tony was unaware that Peter was around the corner, pressed against the wall, not wanting to be noticed. He hadn't meant to listen; he didn't even know they were there til he heard them talking. He took a deep breath, then stepped around the corner, rubbing his eyes.

"Kid? What you doing up?" Tony asked as Peter flopped onto the floor in front of the couch they were sitting on. "And why are you on the floor?"

"You're both on the nice couch, that one's comfier."

"You're tiny, just sit between us."

"Why between?"

"Well because I'd have to snuggle up to apple pie here, and I don't need that tonight."

"So other nights it's fine?" Peter smirked, and gave a whine when Tony kicked him gently in the back. There was a noise overhead, and an alert from Friday that there was a message for Tony. The man sighed and stepped over Peter as he left the couch.

"It'll be Pepper, night you two; I'll head back to bed after."

Peter and Steve gave their own goodnights to Tony, and Peter quickly moved to the empty spot on the couch.

"You take up a lot more room than Mister Stark." Peter grumbled, trying to sprawl out on the couch. Steve laughed and looked at the frowning teen, who had apparently given up and was sitting with his legs half spread, half tucked under one another. Steve shook his head and readjusted his own legs, and reached for Peter's. He grabbed the teens legs before he could react, and pulled them straight, so that the feet were pressing against Steve's legs.

"Only because you're squishing yourself into a ball."

"It's a spider thing." Peter said, smirking, his eyes on the screen.

"Don't spiders do it when they're scared?"

Peter's eyes were on the screen, not focusing; he tried to focus on the presenter's voice, and the animals on screen. He didn't respond to Steve's question, he couldn't.

"So I heard you won. Hard bargainer apparently." Steve said, just loud enough for Peter to hear.

"Only problem is if I use the shirt for this, I don't have it to bargain with in the future."

Steve grinned; he noticed that Peter's hand was moving, fidgeting with the hem of his pyjama shirt.

"I suppose you've got one more person it'll work on. I don't think you've missed anyone else." He pointed out, and felt how tense Peter became. The boy's feet pressed against his legs, almost painfully.

"Yeah, idunno what I'd bargain for though."

"I'm sure you'll think of something." Steve said, and glanced sideways at the boy. "I'm glad you put it up."

"Put what up?"

"The picture I drew." Steve was smiling, Peter wasn't looking at him. "You can hide around corners from Tony, it's harder with me." Peter frowned but didn't look at Steve.

"That's unfair."

"Either is eavesdropping."

"Wasn't on purpose." Peter argued back, then fell silent again.

"I like the picture." He said quietly a few minutes later.

"I'm glad, it was Bucky's favourite one, I've done a few."

"Of me?" Peter asked quietly, obviously surprised.

"Of you."

They sat in silence again, until Steve looked at Peter, Peter saw it but didn't look over. _No, you'll freak. This is fine._

"I have a question. You don't have to answer."

Peter nodded for Steve to go ahead. The super soldier nodded, coughed and asked his question; he expected to blink and for Peter to no longer be there.

"You having bad dreams?" Steve asked, and quickly added. "Only because that's normally why we're all out here at stupid times of the morning."

"Do I have to language you for saying stupid?"

Steve smiled at the teen's comment, and didn't push the question.

"Sometimes, tonight's was…bad, not the worst but it felt more real than normal." Peter said, louder than his last few comments. Steve didn't want to get his hopes up, it doesn't mean the boy likes him, or even feels comfortable around him. _But what if it does? No. Stop it._ He thought.

"What are yours about? Again, don't have to answer."

"You first." Peter said back, and Steve had to think for a second.

" , between nights. Some nights I sleep fine, or as fine as I can, some nights aren't great and some…well I'm out here at one some mornings because I don't want to be in my bedroom. Usually they're about the war, or about Peggy, the bad ones are usually…about Bucky, normally on the train but sometimes it'll be about us fighting, or about Siberia…"

"Ever about Berlin?"

"Not often, actually. That's something I don't understand."

"It's always the building." Peter said suddenly, and Steve focused on the teen. "Always, always the building – there's an explosion, it collapses and I'm trapped. Bruce has said a few times that someone normal, no enhancements, would have been killed simply from the impact. It…doesn't help, it just means that if I wasn't like this, I would've died, and not be stuck with the dreams."

"You wouldn't have even been there, I'm guessing, if you didn't have the enhancements. Why do you call them that? Most people seem to just say powers."

"Idunno…powers feels…childish? I mean Spiderman isn't the most ingenius thing but, it was the most fitting."

"Tony said you were Spiderman before he even knew about you."

"Well yeah-"

"He said you made your own suit, your own web stuff."

"Yes…"

"Sounds pretty ingenius to me."

Steve saw the small smile that caught Peter's lips, and he felt almost giddy.

"Bucky…after you left the plane, Bucky explained why you left. He, well he's a jerk, he knew it'd upset you, he just wanted answers."

"Oh."

"He said something about us…"

"Ugh, well I'm this deep I guess, so why not."

"You don't have t-"

"You're both there, when I'm under the rubble. Every time, there's a moment where I think you've come to help, then Bucky strangles me and you bludgeon me in the head with your shield."

'I…what?"

"I don't even remember when it started, it wasn't immediately after Berlin. It crept up on me I guess, appearing in the dream every now and then until it became almost every night."

"But you're normally not out he-"

"So, Mister Stark broke a mirror?"

"Oh." Steve realised, he had forgotten he had spoken to Tony about it. "Err….yeah."

"Something to ask him about?"

"Probably, yeah."

Peter laughed, and they fell into silence. Peter eventually decided to head back to his room, and Steve stayed on the couch. He woke up on the couch; head on a pillow, a blanket pulled over him. He headed to the kitchen and fell into his routine of making breakfast. He didn't realise he was humming, and caught Tony staring at him from the dining table.

"What?" Steve asked.

"You're humming." Tony pointed out.

"Am I?" Steve hadn't noticed. "Huh." He said, and smiled, going back to the eggs on the stove.

Tony rolled his eyes, and soon had a plate of breakfast which Steve set down in front of him. They began to eat, and chatted; the others hadn't joined them yet.

"You, he dreams about me and Bucky." Steve said, not looking at Tony.

"Well he's a teenager, hormones and what not. I'm not happy about it but it's natur-"

"I kill him."

Tony coughed on his food and stared at Steve, who was glancing up from his own plate.

" _What?"_ Tony whispered.

"Bucky as well. I kind of understand why he doesn't like being around us, with that in his head."

"God…why didn't he _tell us?"_

"Sorry is that coming from Tony 'Palladium Poisoning' Stark?" Steve smirked, and Tony grimaced.

"You're a jerk." Tony muttered, and Steve laughed.


	20. Chapter 20 - Expo

**Chapter 20**

 **Expo**

The week flew by, and no one had seen Peter at all; even Tony was confused as to where his intern had gone. Saturday morning came, and the team was anxious; it was mission day. They left the tower, Peter-less, and arrived at the building being used for the exhibition a few hours later. Tony's stomach had felt strange all morning, like something heavy and unpleasant was sitting in it. A group of SHIELD security walked Tony from the car, towards the building.

"Seems your intern had better things to do." One of them said, and Tony had to fight not to knock their teeth into their own stomach. "It was a stupid idea, he's a teenager. He wouldn't understand the gravity of the situation."

They walked, and stopped in an open area in front of the building. Guests were arriving; Tony said he wanted to scope out the crowd, see if he recognised anyone from previous events. He was scowling at the crowd, eyes searching but finding nothing. There was a shrill laugh from the side, then loud giggling; a young girl that looked eerily familiar, was nearby. He saw Scott, and Cassie nearby with shouts of "I wanna go up!" from the little girl. Tony pushed his way out of the group of SHIELD agents, and quickly moved over to Scott.

"Lang!" he shouted, and Scott turned to see Tony; he smiled at the billionaire, as did his daughter.

"Hi Mister Tony!" She said happily, eyes sparkling in the sun.

'I could have sworn I was at a science convention, so I have no idea why you're having so much fun over here." Tony joked and stood with the two.

"We're waiting for someone." She said cheerily, legs kicking out slightly. She was sitting on Scott's shoulders now, smiling down at Tony.

"Who are you waiting for?"

There were quick footsteps nearby, and someone came to a sudden stop nearby.

"Alright! He's on his way, he'll be here later." The newcomer said, and Tony glanced to see that it was Peter; dark pants, a nice new coat made of a dark grey material that was a hybrid of a hoodie and jacket. He looked far more put together than normal, apart from the bright red t shirt that peeked out from under the coat; Tony's chest swelled, the heaviness was gone.

"Yay! Do you think he'll like it?" Cassie, her voice wavering. Peter smiled back at her, eyes bright.

"Course he will!"

"Can we go do more flips?" She asked excitedly and Scott sighed, but he smiled.

"Wasn't aware your daughter was an acrobat, Scott." Tony said, grinning.

"Either was I until ten minutes ago." He put his daughter on the floor, and the group headed inside, to a conference room which was empty. The SHIELD agents insisted on scanning Scot, Peter and Cassie; but stayed outside of the room after being scolded by Tony, rather loudly. They were only the room for a short time, before there was a knock; the show was set to begin in a few moments. They headed inside and enjoyed the hall of booths, before heading to a large room of dining tables, which had been decorated extravagantly for the lunch.

"I'll go find the others and wait." Peter said, but Tony grabbed his arm and pulled him along to a table near the front. 'Or, not."

They sat, Tony in the middle of Scott and Peter; Cassie decided she wanted to sit next to Peter. She was busy telling Peter about how Spiderman saved her dad – which he reacted with a very convincing 'no way!' – and how Mister Stark had asked her about spiders, and told him all about her animal book. Tony was impressed how good Peter was with the girl; Scot was waiting for the moment Peter got tired of his daughter. It never came, and the two chatted as the speakers came to the stage.

"Thank you all for joining us; today is very important, and we are all incredibly lucky. Besides the fantastic vendors, shows and guests we have today; we also have two very important people here with us. We have Tony Stark, and special guest Bruce Banner. Dr Banner will be speaking shortly, after we run through the program for tonight, and a few other speeches. First, a quick message of behalf of our sponsors, then we will begin."

The speeches were long, and very boring; Peter was sitting still, requiring most of his attention not to shift around in his seat like he wanted to. The SHIELD members watching their table made it even worse. Finally, they ended, and the original speaker came back on stage.

"Thank you, thank you everyone. Now, a quick speech from Mister Stark, of Stark Industries; accompanied by the first ever intern of the company." There was loud applause, and Tony went white.

" _Sons of bitches."_ He muttered angrily, before pushing his seat away from the table, and walking onto the stage. Peter followed, but he was slow; something felt…strange. He stood next to Tony on stage, a few inches ahead of him; if anything went wrong, he could get in front of Tony. The speech was quick, simple; rehearsed, just in case they had tried to surprise him with a speech. Tony was well prepared; he knew what these people were like. Peter heard it; a faint click. He took a step to the side, made sure his shoe caught his other foot and pretended to stumble into Tony; knocking the man aside, as a glass display cabinet behind them suddenly shattered. Another, and this time Peter moved; he stepped in front of Tony, and felt something cut deep into his shoulder; blood pooled under the fabric of his clothes, and he winced.

"Move him!" Peter shouted, looking at the SHIELD agents who hadn't yet moved. His neck tingled, and Peter moved again in front of tower, the agents ran over. Something else entered his body, into his chest, close to the collar bones. Hot, and painful; he knew he'd been shot, twice now. Peter followed them off stage, and when they weren't looking, turned back at a sprint. He pulled his jacket off, and threw it into a nearby closet; he had put a bag in there earlier with his suit, and mask inside. As well as some protein bars Bruce had thrown in with only a loose packaging on them so Peter could eat them quickly; he pulled his suit on in the closet, ate half a protein bar and pulled his mask on, then ran down the hall towards the stage.

"Kid? Update please, we can hear people shouting." Steve came over the suit.

"He's being moved, watch him; I'm on the stage. There was a shooter in the crowd, and I suspect there'll be more." He said, as he emerged from the curtains either side of the stage. He saw the man at the table behind where he had been sitting, and saw the gun before anyone else. He fired a web, grabbing the gun as it was aimed, and pulled it from the man's grip. He saw Scott leaving, Cassie in his arms. He was looking around frantically. Peter stared at Scott, and saw the distress on the man's face; his daughter hadn't been present for the other attack.

"Is there anywhere safe for a kid?" Peter asked into his suit, hoping for a quick response; he quickly disarmed another man, as he waited.

"Bruce and Bucky are upstairs; they're watching the room Tony's gone to while the wait for safe transport. Maybe there?" Clint came back. Peter nodded to himself, and moved; he quickly ran to the edge of the stage, and jumped, he fired a web quickly at the ceiling and caught a beam, and swung towards Scott. He heard Cassie scream as an armed man approached them, gun raised; Scott turned, shielding Cassie against him, when Peter struck the man with both of his feet, sending him flying into a wall nearby. Scott turned at the noise of the man hitting the wall and saw Peter; Cassie's eyes were huge, while Scott's were narrowed, red and wet. Scott let out a shaking breath and held Cassie tight.

"Hello Mister Spider!" Cassie said, as if everything was perfectly okay. "Did Peter give you your present?"

"He sure did! I haven't got to open it yet though." Peter said, and looked at Scott again. The man wanted to go. "Places to be?"

"Yes. Out of here." Scott replied; his suit was nearby. He could help this time. The number of armed people seemed to be growing, so many had been undercover in the crowd.

"Good idea, so how about this; you wanna go meet some friends of mine miss?" Peter asked, looking at Cassie.

"Who?" Scott asked before she could.

"Well there's Tony, he probably needs some company right now; then there's Clint, he grew up in the _circus._ Then, there's Dr Banner himself." Peter finished, hands on hips; Cassie looked so _excited._

Scott, looked…impressed; they would be a good crowd to keep Cassie safe. Peter decided _not_ to be mention the metal-armed assassin.

"You can keep them company, and they can keep an eye on you for your Dad huh? He probably has to check on some people here, right?" Peter asked, looking at Scott who nodded. Cassie also nodded, and held her arms out towards Peter.

"Can you do flips as well?" She asked, eyes bright, voice hopeful. Peter gave a soft chuckle and grabbed her, holding in tight with one arm.

"Maybe, later. Alright?" He offered, and she nodded.

"Places to be?" Peter asked Scott as he fired a web and grabbed the ceiling above them, reminding the man of where he wanted to go.

"Right. Thanks." Scott said, before running off into the crowd, that was quickly making an escape.

"I see you, on the landing above you. Will get her to the others." Natasha's voice came over. Peter pulled on his web, and pulled the two of them up; Cassie shrieked out of pure joy, and Peter had to smile under his mask. He came to the railing of the landing above them, and found Natasha.

"Alright Cassie, this is another friend of mine, she's also a spider."

"Nuh-uh, too pretty." Cassie argued, as Peter handed her to Natasha. "Spiders are gross."

"I like her." Natasha said, grinning and left with the girl.

"Alright, kiddo dropped off by, bigger kiddo I guess." Peter said, partly to himself, and looked around the rom. "What's the goal here guys?"

"Clear out what you can, we have this floor, Bucky and Bruce are watching Tony with the SHIELD guys. Natasha and Clint are taking out who they can; incapacitate, we want capture. We want answers." Steve ordered, then there were a few seconds of grunting and gunfire, before he came back. "We need to somehow clear out the carpark under this the building, we need to get Tony out through there, but it's _full_ of guys. Thor, be carefu- never mind, alright."

"Lower area is basically clear, they seemed to follow out with the crowd, probably expected no delays, so they jumped ship after it all sent to hell." Peter said, and looked down for the way to the carpark. He saw them, stairs! 'On my way down now, if I break cars do I have to pay for them."

A laugh came back through the suit that Peter smirk; Tony had heard him.

"You're so fucking cute kid, jesus christ." The man said, laughing. Peter could hear Cassie chatting in the background. "Oh, someone wants me to say she's very upset you didn't open her present."

"I was busy! Peter shouted, as he dropped from the web to the ground, landing on a man who had tried to reach his gun; Peter webbed him to the ground before making his way to the carpark level.

He looked around, and saw a few black vans; there were people climbing out of them through the side doors, arming weapons and getting ready. Peter quickly webbed each of them; to the floor, the van itself, or to support beams. Then there were shots; a rally of bullets flew past Peter, and he quickly moved behind a concrete post, and peeked out from behind it to see a group of men approaching, two with machine guns.

"Machine guns?!" He moaned, and Clint came over the communicator.

"Machine guns?! Maybe they were prepared for it to go wrong, the ones leaving mustn't have been told the full plan. Peter saw more people approaching, come from the stairs and an elevator nearby. Most were wearing some kind of face cover; ski mask, normal mask, anything to hide their faces. Some had nothing, and began to fire without worrying if Peter could see them; he would be dead shortly.

"Excuse me Mister Spider?" Came cassie, over Tony's communicator.

"Uhhh yes?" _Where was Tony?_

" _Mister Tony is with the doctor, he doesn't want the doctor to look at him though. He keeps shouting about your suit and a…a man with a funny name? A magic man? With a weird hat?"_ He was whispering, Tony musn't know she had the communicator.

"Thor!" Peter shouted, at a guess.

"Yes young multi-legged friend!"

"My suit, did Loki help with it?" Peter gasped out as another storm of bullets came his way, chipping at the concrete pillow that was behind him.

"Of course my friend! His magic helped with the special colour changing trick, very clever; it is much like your suit!"

Peter was silent, then "Are you saying I'm bulletproof?"

"Uhhhh…." Clint came over the suit.

"Yes my friend! However, damage will drain the magic, and it will take time to recover after battle, you must remain safe for some time after!"

"Good enough!" Peter shouted, and without anything else, leapt from behind the pillar.

"Thor why'd you say that?!" Clint shouted.

The bullets began again; a storm of lead headed for Peter. He felt them strike his suit, and fall to the side, unable to penetrate the fabric. It shimmered with each strike, and then Peter struck. He webbed two nearby men, and threw them into two others; it knocked them to the ground, and he webbed them all to the concrete floor. He managed to web one of the machine guns, clogging its barrel and pulled, throwing it into one of the empty black vans nearby. He heard something fly from behind him, and he ducked as he webbed two men by their legs. He pulled hard as he dropped to the ground, pulling them closer and webbing their hands and lands to the concrete floor, then quickly webbed what had flown over him, and threw it to the side. The small device rolled and landed in a small puddle of water that had dripped from the ceiling; it crackled then a bright arc of electricity began to jump on the water, before fading and dying out.

"On the way kid, we're clear here, Tony's ready to move!" Steve's voice came, and Peter laughed in response; this was _amazing._

"Karen I know maybe not the time but-"

"Starting playlist Peter." Karen said, and music began to play around Peter's head. He gave a whoop, and threw himself forward, towards the next machine gun. He braced his wrist, and clenched his fist tightly into a ball as he struck, knocking the man back as Peter made contact with his shoulder. The machine gun fell, and Peter made quick work of hanging it from the ceiling, out of anyone's reach. Peter was starting to feel the bullets more; they weren't penetrating the suit yet, but they were pressing harder into his skin. An engine revved behind him, and he jumped to the side as one of the black vans raced past, just missing him.

"I almost think you wanted to hit me!" Peter shouted, and he heard something behind him. He didn't move, as a circular shape curved around his head, and saw the shield smash through the windshield of the van. Peter moved, quickly jumping over to the van as it veered, and collided with a support pillar. He jumped on top of the car, and pulled the sliding side door from the vehicle, quickly webbing those who were inside. "A civilian car accident really ruins your insurance rates, you know." He said, as if it was the most important advice they would have ever been given, and followed where he had seen the SHIELD agents go. Peter webbed the shield from behind his back, and yanked; it flew out of the windshield, and Steve managed to catch it from the air, catching up to Peter.

"You'd think you played ball professionally, Cap" Peter said as they ran after the others, and he heard footsteps behind him; no tingles, it was Bucky. More footsteps, then a voice.

"Lower floor is compromised, dangerous levels of gas detected." Came the AI over their communicators.

"What kind of gas?" Steve, they had reached a metal door, which would lead to the staircase to take them downstairs to the emergency exit.

"It appears to be man-made, it reads as being incredibly toxic."

"What about my suit?" Peter asked.

"The spider suit's filtration mode is not capable of filtering the gas at it's current concentration; it will prove deadly to those who breathe it in." Karen came back, and Peter groaned.

"Oh my god, the kid's dad." Tony said suddenly.

"Dead, remember." Peter said and Tony groaned.

"Not yours! The other kid!"

"Ant-Guy?"

"Yes! Oh my god, would his suit be able to get him through? It has its own oxygen supply…it's limited though."

"There is a control panel for an air ventilation system in the room – that would prove powerful enough to extract the gas to a safe extraction point, to allow movement through the room for those without protection. Power supply is limited so it must be turned off before the electronic doors are used to exit the room." Came Karen's voice, to Peter and the others.

'We need Lang." Tony said.

"Dad?" Cassie asked, tears welling at her eyes.

"On it!" Peter shouted, and made quick work of running back to the stairs, and webbing his way to the next floor up. If they protested, he didn't hear it.

He looked around, but couldn't see anything.

"Can't he be huge? Where is he?!"

"Scott Lang is outside in the main yard; he has been assisting in moving the injured to the paramedics."

With that, Peter ran. As he did, he had a question for Karen.

"Hey Karen,"

"Yes peter?"

"Can my mask filter air if it's not joint to the suit?"

A pause. "Yes, Peter, it can."

"Good to know, thanks." He said, and threw himself from a window, and landed outside; he saw Lang instantly. Peter jumped up to a window ledge higher up and fired, catching Lang with a web as he went back towards the building, and Peter. Peter lifted him up and through the window, and pulled him behind him as he ran.

"Hey! I was busy!"

"Yep, you'll be busy again in a moment as well!"

"I- what are you doing here? Wher-"

"Downstairs!"

"Why?!"

"It's been a long day!"

And then, Peter jumped down the staircase; pulling Lang along. Peter easily caught Lang as the man fell besides him, and landing them both firmly on the ground, on their feet.

"If you carried my daughter like that-"

"Natasha would kill me first; she's taken a liking to the little ant." Peter said, smiling under the mask, and running. Scott followed, and saw the group.

"Dad?" Cassie called out, and Scott's arms found her.

"Mister Tony has lots of spider friends." She said, and smiled as her Dad held her tight.

"What is going on?" He asked finally, not loosening his grip on his daughter.

"You have your own oxygen supply, yeah?" Tony asked, he was standing now; his face was still pale, and Peter was worried he was going to topple over.

"Yes…"

"Thank god. Scott, can…hang on, I'll play the recording of what our favourite AI said, I can't…hang on."

Tony fiddled with his phone, and Scott seemed to focus on something inside his helmet; he grimaced behind the glass.

"Damn…are we able to get the door open to get in?" He asked, and moved towards it. Bucky and Steve moved to either side of it. They heard shouts nearby, and gunfire.

"Got it, you lot get through, I'll catch up." Peter said, and no one argued. Steve and Bucky braced, and pulled at their side of the door; it creaked, and slowly slid open. Scott stepped in, motioned for them to let go, then he disappeared behind the metal door.

"Stark, can your computer lady guide me to where the box is? Visibility's not great." Scott came over the communicators.

"Sure, give her a second, she'll start talking in a moment.

A short pause. "Alright great; I'll be as quick as I can."

"If it gets too much, come back. We can find another way past."

Gunfire came from the way they had walked through, and Natasha shook her head. She felt a small hand find hers and without looking down, she held onto Cassie's hand as tight as she could.

"Alright! Door control is here too. When you guys are at the door tell me, I'll turn off the ventilation and get the door open, quick steps though. Maybe tell me when you're nearly at the door, the room isn't big." Scott, and everyone agreed. No one noticed that Peter hadn't responded.

"Do we go back for the spider?" Clint asked, looking at Tony and Steve. They frowned.

"We need to move, he can open the door enough for himself to slip through, if we leave the door open after us on the other side he can follow. He wanted to follow us back over the rooftops anyway, to watch for followers." Steve said and judging by the look on Tony's face, he hadn't been aware of this. No one wanted to comment on the fact the gas would likely be back at full concentration when Peter returned.

"Alright, get ready!" Scott shouted. "Alright, go!" And they moved. Bucky and Steve held the doors as the others stepped in, eyes shut tight as they strained, before quickly stepping in after the others and following them. The air in the room stung their eyes, and had a heavy metallic scent, and an almost mustard colour to it but they could see well enough to find the other door. Gunshots echoed outside of the room.

"Ready!" Steve shouted out, and they heard as the fans above them stopped; the mustard coloured gas began to build up in the room.

"What the hell?!" Tony shouted, and he heard the doors begin to creak behind him. Natasha felt the small hand holding hers shake, and looked down when she heard a soft whimper; she was not expecting what she saw. The little girl's face was obstructed; hidden behind the red and black mask Peter had slipped over her head. The doors groaned, and Scott found the group as the doors slowly opened.

"We moving guys?!" He shouted, and found his daughter's form next to Natasha. His hand replaced Natasha's and he held tight to his daughter's shaking hand.

"He won't be able to get through!" Tony shouted, and tried to push past Clint; Clint, Steve and Bucky stopped him, and shoved the man through the now open doorway into the fresh air of the walkway they had come out to. They all came out, and each of them saw Cassie. Scott quickly pulled the mask from his daughter's head, and saw her red face; tears had soaked her skin, and her eyes were wet.

"He…oh my god, he wouldn't have heard anything." Steve said suddenly, looking at the mask.

"What?" Scott looked at Steve, and then tony; Tony looked like he was about to keel over.

"He doesn't have a communicator; his mask _is_ his communicator." Tony said, voice gentle; he felt sick.

"Cassie, sweetie; are you okay?" Scott asked, picking his daughter up. She nodded, sniffling as she wiped her eyes on her sleeves.

"H-he…Mister Spider said it would be hard to breathe but…his mask can make it easier, so he said I could wear it, because he…he can breathe better than me because of his p-powers."

"Move!" Natasha shouted and so, they all headed along the walkway, up some stairs and found another carpark. Three identical cars sat there; Tony went with Bruce and Scott, Cassie sat on Scott's lap. Clint and Natasha Went together, the shield agents climbed into the third car.

"What about the metal guy Daddy? And The Captain?" Cassie asked, peering out of the window, when a motorbike shot past, followed by a second one.

"They were very excited when they got bikes." Bruce said, grinning from the front seat. The driver nodded as Bruce said it was time to go, and the three cars left, taking different routes from the exit.

'Friday, did Spiderman mention this to Karen? To anyone?" Tony asked, and the AI's friendly voice came over the cars speakers.

"Yes Mister Stark; Spiderman had inquired about Mister Lang after the university incident, and learnt of Cassie's medical history. He was worried, and enquired if his mask could filter air if it was not attached to his suit. Upon learning that this was possible, he thanked Karen for the help and went to find Mister Lang."

Tony frowned, and looked out of the window, hoping to see a glimpse of something red. Scott was holding his daughter on his lap, arms around her; she was holding Peter's mask tightly with both hands. There was a screech of tyres ahead of them; the road was empty, apart from a van in the road beside them, facing towards them. It swerved sharply into their lane, and Bruce saw as the passenger in the car leant out of the weapon, something in one of this hands. There was a sudden thump on the roof of the car, and Cassie squealed in fright when the roof of the car dented inwards; her Dad shifted her into the middle seat and did up her seatbelt, his arm braced in front of her. They heard a number of quick thuds on the roof, then a foot came over the windshield, then another and something red jumped from the hood of the car, flying at the other vehicle.

"Oh shit!" Tony shouted, and turned to obstruct Scott and Cassie's view with his body.

"Hey!" Scott shouted.

"Secret identity!" Tony shouted, and the car swerved. They moved out of the way of the other car, and Tony saw through the back window as they passed it. It felt like slow motion; he watched Peter fly at the other vehicle, webbing the item from the guy who was hanging out of the window. Peter was able to pull the man from the window, and web him to the ceiling so that he was hanging of the tunnel they had passed under, arms by his sides. The other car swerved, as Peter grabbed at the driver and Tony stared as he caught the last glimpse of the other car rolling over. He could hear the other car as it rolled, and the metal screeching assaulted his ears.


	21. Chapter 21 - Bonding Over Bricks

**Chapter 21**

 **Bonding Over Bricks**

Tony could hear the other car as it rolled, and the metal screeching assaulted his ears. Cassie put her hands to her head, to cover her ears as the van rolled then, the noise stopped. Tony slowly lowered himself back into his seat, and sat still as the car carried on; and they arrived at their destination. The car pulled into the car park underneath the safe building, and they slowly left the car.

Steve found Tony sitting alone, on the floor in his temporary bedroom. Tony was staring at nothing, eyes glazed over; he looked like hell.

"Tony?" Steve asked, and closed the bedroom door behind him.

"The route my car took, we passed right by May and Peter's apartment…he must have got his old suit mask." Tony said quietly.

"Scott and Cassie…was it him?" Steve asked, and sat next to his friend on the floor. Tony gave a heavy sigh and pushed his back against the wall, then went limp and leant against Steve.

"In all his red and blue glory…god Steve, you should've seen the kid in the car; I thought she was gonna put her nails through the mask the way she was holding it."

"Can't say I blame her, we've all been a little on edge."

"I hate him sometimes; you know? He's too kind for his own good."

Steve laughed and nodded. "I told the others I would make you eat so, you can come eat, then come back in here and I won't bother you, none of us will."

"Promise."

"On Peggy."

Tony nodded; and he left with Steve to a small eating area. Two men in pilot gear came into the kitchen, and made their own meals. They looked frustrated.

"Tough day? Tony asked, and they looked over.

"Just weird, on the way back in the helicopter after we received message you had arrived. Helicopter detected extra weight but when we landed, nothing was wrong." The man shook his head and they both left, waving goodbye to Steve and Tony.

"No way." Tony whispered, and both man bolted from the room.

"Where's the helipad?!" Steve shouted at the men, who jumped and pointed down another hall. Steve and Tony took off without a second thought, and clambered up the steps that took them outside, onto the roof where the helicopter sat. Nothing, the couldn't find anything. Disappointed, they left but saw someone in a small room they had run past on their way to the helipad. There in the hallway; arms raised in the air in triumph, bruised and bloody, stood Peter. His hair was a was of dried blood and messy curls, and his face was bruised and beaten, but he was alive. He was wearing the body of the suit, his old mask in his hand.

"I accept your thank you and-" Peter was cut off by Tony, who had rushed over and wrapped his arms around the teenager, as if he was worried Peter would disappear at any second. Peter winced as Tony grabbed him, and tried to pull the man's arms away.

"Love you too but, breathing hurts right now so…" Peter said, and Tony stepped away. Tony nodded quickly, and without speaking, headed back towards the small kitchen. Steve smiled and followed, letting Peter go ahead of him. Peter limped after Tony, and collapsed into a seat at the small dining table. There were footsteps following them, and a SHIELD agent came into the room; Tony recognised them as the one he had wanted to hit earlier.

"The security alert said there was an unauthorised entry into the building." He said, and saw Peter; the man's eyes seemed to narrow on the boy. "Ah I see your _intern_ managed to pull himself off of the floor." Steve had to lift Tony and move him back when the man shot forward to punch the man. The SHIELD agent stepped back, clearly unnerved.

" _How fucking dare you."_ Tony half whispered the words, and the SHIELD agent clearly knew he had made a mistake; his eyes flickered over to the kitchen, then he left without saying anything. Tony looked to Peter and saw that the boy was gone; he heard noises in the kitchen, where the agent had looked. Peter was busy filling a small pot with water and putting it on the stove, flicking the knob to high. He rested his hands on the counter behind and leant back, resting his back against the counter. Tony was unnerved by how gentle the smile on Peter's face was, as if he wasn't covered in blood.

"Nice job Peter, wow thanks kid, you did so well. Aww shucks guys, no problem." Peter was saying to himself, smiling at his own words; he moved over to a cabinet and pulled out a pack of instant noodles, and began to open it when Tony and Steve walked over.

"I'll eat a proper meal later, right now I want noodles and a shower." Peter said, and looked at the two men as he dumped the noodles, and the flavour packet into the water; it was a challenge. Footsteps came from the doorway, then a man's grunt and the giggles of a child. Cassie came around the corner and saw Peter; her eyes were wide. She was holding a small gift wrapped box in her hands, and she looked almost nervous.

"Cassie!" Scott groaned out, and came into the kitchen; he gasped at Peter, taking in the boy's appearance. Peter gave a small wave and he stirred his noodles with a fork, and got a bowl from a drawer nearby.

"Mister Peter?" Cassie asked, quietly.

"Yeah kid?" peter asked, crouching down to her height.

"Umm...he didn't get to open it..c-can.. you.." She tried to find the words, and Peter held his hands out; she gently handed it to him and he stood up.

"I think he's getting looked at by some medical people so, I'll go check on him when he's ready, alright?" Peter asked and Cassie nodded. She smiled and left with Scott, chatting to him quickly.

"Ooh what'd he get?" Tony teased, and sat at the table with Peter. Steve joined them a moment later with a cup of coffee for himself, and one for Tony.

"I think it'd be rude to open Spiderman's present; he'll open it later." Peter said with a smirk, and put the gift on the table next to him.

"Well, Cassie looks happi- hey!" Clint said, pointing at Peter as he came in with Natasha and Bruce. Peter gave a wave, and Clint smiled at the teenager. "Damn kid, when'd you get here?"

"Noodles?" Bruce asked. He shot a look of _really?_ To Tony, Tony just smiled and shrugged.

"Meal of a champion." Tony said.

"Meal of a god damn winner." Peter said, and pushed his chair back. "Are there showers here?" He asked

"I'll take you." Natasha said, and Peter moved over to her. "We can find you some clean clothes too." They left the room. Clint and Bruce slid into their own seats at the dining table.

"So it seems Cassie is very interested in Clint." Bruce said, grinning for the first time in days.

"What? Why?" Tony asked, grinning back at Bruce.

"Something about growing up in the circus?"

"Who's present?' Clint asked, pointing at the box.

"Cassie got it for Spiderman, and asked Peter to make sure he got it." Steve explained, and they all laughed. Natasha came back to the laughing group, and raised an eyebrow at the gift.

"No one gets us presents." Clint said, and went to make a coffee.

"What would you want as a present? We can arrange something." Tony teased, looking back over at Clint, who was in thought.

'I wanna see the kids, and Laura, and Lucky." He said, as he sat back in his seat. "It's been forever now." The dream still played on his mind, even during days like today.

"Oof, that's a complex one. First the travel, then the luggage, then getting you there, THEN getting you there without you knowing." Tony started to ramble, and saw Clint giving him an odd look. "What? It was your idea."

"Yeah, I was just thinking out loud."

"Well, now so am I. When to visit though? I've got heaps of meetings soon, Steve has some SHIELD stuff…"

"What?"

"Well, you're not having all the fun to yourself, we haven't seen them in ages either. Ooh, Halloween! Yes, we visit for Halloween. Decision made!" Tony clapped his hands, as Peter came into the room. He was clean, but his hair still had some streaks of red that had proved too stubborn to come out.

"You're excited." Peter said, and flopped onto the couch nearby. "Good news?"

"Yes!" Tony said, eyes sparkling. "We're going on holiday."

"Oh, that's not really…what I was expecting but, sounds fun." Peter said, stretching out over the couch.

"How are you able to take up so much space?" Clint asked, and Peter smiled at him.

"Teenager." Peter said, and Clint nodded as if it was a perfectly valid answer.

"You and May don't have any Halloween traditions, do you?" Tony asked.

"Nah, she usually works on Halloween because other people ask for it off. I usually hang out with Ned but I think he's visiting family for it this year."

"Perfect!"

"Tony!" Steve shouted. "You can't just make the plans for him."

"Of course I can!"

"Wait, what? Am I going on holiday?"

"Yes!"

"…where?"

"To see Clint's family!"

"Do we get to go trick or treating?"

"I guess, the kids will want to, hey Clint dear?" Tony looked at Clint, who nodded.

"They'll already be working on their costumes, it's a big deal."

"Do we get to dress up?" Peter asked, and Tony caught the smirk that was on the boys face.

"Definitely." Clint answered before Tony could, smiling much like Peter was.

The conversation was interrupted by a message from Fury; they were cleared to go back to the Tower. They quickly got together their belongings, and made the trip back to the tower. Peter was lost in thought the entire, and went to his room to call Ned as soon as they arrived. Tony had glanced at Peter's phone; 23 messages from Ned.

"Who do you think he'll go as?" Clint asked as Steve made dinner; Clint and Natasha were playing a board game on the coffee table.

"Who? Where?"

"Kid. Halloween." Clint grinned at Steve as the man rolled his eyes. "He'll go as one of us for Halloween, surely. Look how much it got to Tony with the shirts."

"Ohh, right." Steve said, his concentration on breakfast. He caught movement nearby. "Welcome back, punk." Steve grinned at Bucky, who shot Steve a fake glare.

"What are you lot talking about? And _what_ are you two playing?" Bucky settled on the ground to watch the game Natasha and Clint were playing.

"We're visiting my family soon, all of us including you so we aren't arguing about it, and we're trying to figure out what the kid's gonna dress up as for Halloween." Clint said with barely a breath between words. Bucky groaned, and looked at Steve for help, who simply shrugged.

"Tony somehow got us all roped in, even Natasha's going. No idea where we're all going to sleep though." Steve said, trying to remember just what Clint's house looked like.

"Sounds great." Bucky mumbled, and Clint patted him on the back.

"Come on man, it'll be fun. You don't have to go trick or treating, Peter was just…weirdly excited about it, got us kind of worried. Personally, I'm still worried." Clint said, and cheered at his win; the board game had finished in time for breakfast. It was Sunday, and Steve had set out bacon, eggs and pancakes for everyone. Eventually everyone trickled out of their room, and were soon enjoying breakfast, and had begun to chatter as they slowly woke up properly. The only one missing, was Peter. Everyone finished breakfast, and Steve offered Tony that he'd take some food to Peter, if Tony went and had some form of rest.

"Captain, for you, I'll even leave my mirror in one piece." Tony sighed happily, and left to go back to his room; whether he would sleep or not, Steve had no idea. He knocked on the door to Peter's room, but there was no response. He listened, and could hear muffled talking and, gunfire? Steve knocked again, then slowly opened the door after not receiving a reply. He looked into the room and saw that it was dark, apart from the glow from a TV on the wall. Peter was sitting upright in his bed, blanket wrapped around his body, even drooping over his head like a hood, staring at the movie on the screen. The movie was black and white, and obviously not a light hearted one. Steve knocked again, a little louder, and Peter jumped. The boy turned to face Steve, still with his blanket around him, and he stared at Steve, then narrowed his eyes.

"Yes?"

"You missed breakfast." Steve said, and hold up the plate of food he had bene holding.

"Oh! Oh sorry, Friday never told me." Peter said, and Steve came in. He set the plate onto the desk and stepped back, leaning against the wall next to the door, eyes on the screen.

"Are you watching a movie about _me?"_ Steve couldn't believe it, he really, really wanted to go tell everyone. The movie paused, and Peter looked at Steve from under his blanket hood.

"It wasn't originally, I was watching another movie about the war, and then it ended and another movie auto started, then I fell asleep, and woke up when this was starting and just…kinda kept watching," He rubbed his eyes and felt his cheeks flush. "It is a little weird to be caught watching movies about someone, by that someone."

"Don't worry bout it." Steve smiled, looking at the teen who was wrapped in an Avengers blanket. Steve hesitated but walk over to the bed, and lowered himself onto it; he leant back against the wall, and focused on the still image of the paused movie.

"It's strange, seeing it in black and white; makes it feel like it never happened." He said softly, forgetting Peter was there. The movie flickered, then began again; the teen had pressed play. They sat in silence while the movie continued on, and Steve's breath caught in his throat some time later; she looked so much like Peggy that his chest ached.

"Any reason you were watching movies to begin with?" Steve asked, and he hoped to god that his voice didn't betray how he felt.

"Bad sleep, bad dreams." Peter said back softly, not looking away from the screen. He heard Steve say something; it was muffled but he made out the word 'hate'.

"Huh? What do you hate?" Peter asked turning to look at Steve. The man looked pale, and he looked tired; he looked weak.

"Not being to able help, it's what I do. Bucky, you, Clint – we all get bad dreams, and I can't fix it. Tony does as well, which is why he bre- ignore that." Peter smiled gently and looked at the super soldier who was in his bed.

"Did it hurt?" Peter asked, and Steve looked at the kid properly.

"What did?"

"The…super…serum…thing…" Peter waved a hand in the hand, then pulled it back inside the blanket.

"Oh, yeah. It passed pretty quickly, thankfully, I had to use it…pretty early on. What about you? A spider?"

Peter laughed at the way Steve asked the question; so _unsure._ Maybe a little off put that it was an actual, real spider.

"Not a fan of spiders?" Peter teased. "Yeah, I don't remember it really…hurting, I felt a bit ill the day after but brushed it off as being a flu or something; life was kinda all over the place at the time and I just…forgot about the spider, or my brain blocked it out maybe. I woke up all…improved."

"Sounds a lot easier." Steve said, and the two laughed. Peter's phone buzzed with an alarm, and he began to free himself from the blanket cocoon. Steve climbed off the bed, and left the room; he was very pleased with his morning so far. Peter grabbed the plate of breakfast and quickly ate it while he walked to the kitchen, stepping around Steve as he passed the man in the hallway. He set about collecting the few dishes on the dining table, and set them in the sink then grabbed a damp cloth and wiped over the table. Steve was curious but simply headed off to the library; he wanted to draw. He didn't know what yet. Bucky found Peter a few minutes later, pulling on his shoes and a coat.

"Going out?" The man asked. Peter glanced up at him, smiling.

"Just going to the shops quickly for some snack stuff, Ned's coming over. We're working on lego later."

"What the hell is lego? Do I know Ned?" Bucky asked, with a paused after the question, then continued. "Do I like Ned?"

"Lego's like tiny blocks you build stuff out of and, do you really like anyone?" Peter asked with a smirk, then bounded off the couch and was in the elevator before Bucky could comment.

Peter and Ned return a little while later, Ned holding a bag of snacks and some soft drink, and Peter carrying a box of lego. They set everything up on the dining table, and moved what snacks they didn't need yet to the kitchen counter. Bucky came in a little while later and saw the two boys, focusing on their own lego creations.

"So this is lego?" He asked, and smiled to himself when the boy who wasn't Peter – Ned? – jumped in his seat, while Peter just looked up at Bucky.

"Hey Bucky, this is Ned, and this is lego." Peter said, pointing at Ned, then waving his hands out at the lego that was covering their end of the table.

"What do you do with it?" Bucky sat on the far end of the table, resting his folded arms on the top of the table.

"You build stuff; we're just building out of loose bricks today but you can get kits." Peter explained as he reached into the box of the floor, and rummaged through it for a moment. He slid a small box down the table towards Bucky.

"You can give that a go if you want, we got it ages ago on sale and keep forgetting we have it." Peter said, as if no big thing, ignoring the confused glance from Ned. Bucky picked he box up, and looked at the picture on it; his heart seemed to stop. The picture on the box was very familiar; a Harley-Davidson WLA, complete with a tiny plastic gun holster and saddlebag.

"There's instructions in the box, to show you how pieces go together." Ned said, not looking away from what he was building. Bucky carefully opened the box and emptied the contents out onto the table. He watched as Peter and Ned worked, clicking the bricks together. He carefully opened the tiny plastic bags that had been in the box, and found a small paper pamphlet; which he opened and saw, were instructions. He read over them, then again; after the third time reading them, he started to build.

Steve walked through the room and hour later, waving at Peter and his Friend, then stopped in his tracks when he saw Bucky. Steve was bewildered at the site of Bucky sitting at the dining table, hunched over something and surrounded by what looked like kid's toys.

"Watcha up to?" Steve asked, and Bucky didn't turn around when he replied "Lego."

Bucky sat back in his seat so that Steve could see the lego motorbike that Bucky was almost done with. Steve's eyes widened as he recognised what Bucky had built.

"Bucky is that one of the bikes? Our bikes?"

"Yeah but the numbers are wrong." Bucky said, holding up the tiny generically numbered sticker that had come with the bike.

"Numbers?" Peter asked, as Ned rummaged in the box. 'Oh your sticker, you don't have to put them on if you don't want."

Ned slid a piece of paper down the table, and Bucky saw that it was covered in individual small stickers of letters, and numbers.

"You might be able to make the number you want out of those?" Ned offered, and returned to his work. It proved to be a good idea; Bucky liked Ned.

Minutes later Bucky proclaimed he was finished, and showed Steve the complete lego bike; the numbers on the side were the same as the numbers that had been on Bucky's bike during the war.

"Neat Bucky, what are you gonna do with it?" Steve asked, and Bucky frowned.

"Peter." Bucky said, and Peter looked up. "What do I do with it?"

"Oh, you can take it apart if you want, or you can leave it like that and put it on a shelf or something." He said, and Bucky nodded. Steve and Bucky left the dining table and headed towards the bedrooms. They came out a few moments later and headed into the elevator. Peter only caught a glimpse of Bucky as he walked past but he could see that the metal armed man was smiling.

 _ **Huge thank you to everyone who has liked, followed and reviewed!**_


	22. Chapter 22 - Lego For All

**Chapter 22**

 **Lego For All**

Monday came, and Peter met up with Ned on his way there; they usually didn't walk together, but wanted to get something to eat before school today. May had given Peter a Starbucks gift-card to say congratulations on winning the decathlon round, so he thought it'd be nice to get something for him and Ned. After collecting their breakfast and drinks, they headed to school; the walk wasn't long and they arrived at school with plenty of time to finish their food before classes started. The weather was starting to get cooler, so walking into the slightly warmer school building was a nice change from the temperature outside, even though it did mean they were at school. Flash wasn't even at school today, so Peter's day was more enjoyable than normal. Ned and Peter made their way outside of school at the end of the day; MJ had already left.

Peter could've sworn he'd heard someone say his name but supposed he'd been mistaken; no, there it was again. Wasn't it? Peter and Ned saw a group of students huddled together, looking at something in the pick up zone.

"Is Mister Stark getting you?" ne asked, as they wandered over to the group.

"He didn't say he was, but I suppose he might've just decided not to tell me." Peter replied, as the two squeezed their way through he small crowd. Peter and Ned made it to the front; it was definitely not Tony. A sleek black motorbike was parked in the pick up zone; the rider was sitting on the bike, arms folded and resting on the handle bars. Brown hair brushed the mans shoulders, and the obviously metal arm was in clear view, the man had decided on a grey singlet and jeans for his outfit.

"Bucky?" Peter asked in surprise, and Bucky heard; he tore his attention from a rather attractive woman he'd been watching across the road, and looked at Peter. He looked much friendlier than he normally did; his lips were curled up in a grin that Peter guessed was for the other kids more than him, and possibly for the woman Bucky had been watching.

"Afternoon kid." Bucky said, and Peter rolled his eyes. The group had pushed him closer, everyone wanting to see Bucky; the group of girls behind Peter had pushed the most eagerly, wanting to see Bucky closer. "Hop on, things to do." He said, patting the empty space behind him on the bike seat. Peter rolled his eyes and shifted his backpack, as he walked over and climbed on behind Bucky.

"Hold tight kid, I'm not being lectured for letting you fall of." Bucky said, and Peter smirked as he wrapped his arms around the man.

"Sorry, trying not to make anyone jealous." The bike roared beneath him, and Bucky revved the engine. It roared again, and they took off. Peter felt the force suck at his body, but he held tight.

"The only one I want jealous is blonde long-legs." Bucky shouted as they weaved through traffic. "Do you know her?"

"She's an elementary school teacher I think!" Peter shouted back, trying to think of how he knew the woman.

"Aww, she probably likes kids!" The man shouted back; they weaved dangerously close between two trucks before shooting ahead.

"She also probably likes her husband!" Peter shouted. "Where are we going?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Well, it's the totally opposite direction to the tower!"

Bucky's laugh was loud and full of mischief Peter was concerned by it, but also intrigued. They came to a stop outside a section of shops, and climbed off the bike. He looked up and down the street, then saw the store in front of them; Bucky was already halfway inside. Peter ran to follow the man, and entered the toy store. Peter saw that Bucky looked very lost in the store, but clearly had come here for a purpose. A young lady in store uniform came over, smiling at the two.

"Afternoon! Can I help you?" She said brightly, either ignoring Bucky's arm, or not noticing it.

"Lego?" Bucky tried, and she smiled warmly and gestured with her arm down an aisle.

"Very back of the store, everything is n the wall back there." She said, and moved to help another customer. Bucky moved quickly, making his way to the back wall where the lego was kept. Bucky stood with his arms folded over his chest, inspecting the selection Peter finally found the man and stood beside him.

"You picked me up to go look at lego?" Peter asked, taking a deep breath when he finally caught up with Bucky.

"That's basically it, yeah." Bucky said, and moved closer to the shelves, but didn't touch anything. The same staff member from earlier came over, smiling brightly at the two.

"Do you need any help at all?" She asked, and Peter just pointed at Bucky, who had heard the girl and had turned to look at her.

"Oh um, I don't really know about it. He was building it with his friend and it looked fun. I was thinking about getting some… maybe one as a gift for a friend's birthday." Bucky told her; Peter knew that voice. It was his ' _I am not from this time and I am really lost right now'_ voice, and Peter wondered if the girl knew.

"Oh no worries then; we've got all the lego sorted into different sections. Animals, vehicles, real world buildings then there's subsections, we have some branded stuff which is based on movies, books and a few tv shows. Did you have an idea what you wanted?" Peter appreciated how gentle her voice was; she glanced at Bucky's arm, while he looked at the shelves, but her eyes were back on his when he looked back.

"Ummm…do you have any world war…two stuff?" Bucky asked, trying to remember the name for the war, how they spoke about it now.

"Course! That's all here, in it's own area so it's easy to find. Anything on these shelves is what you'd want. What about your friend, same thing or maybe something else?" Peter was curious; he wasn't sure who had a birthday coming, or even if anyone actually did.

"Ummm…he likes the avengers a lot, especially Iron Man." Bucky said, and the girl smiled.

"Sadly we haven't got any avengers products in our store, but I'm happy to help you look through and see if you think he'd like anything we do have." She offered, and moved over closer to help Bucky look. Peter busied himself walking around the aisles, when he heard his name; he went back to Bucky and found that he was holding two of the larger boxes.

"All done?" Peter asked.

"Pick something." Bucky said, and left to go to the register. "Come up front when you're ready." Peter joined him a little while later, with a small lego box with Bucky scoffed at while the lady scanned it.

"What?"

"Why'd you get the smallest one?"

"It's for Ned. No other stores have had it; he's been wanting it for ages." Peter explained, and Bucky seemed to accept it. Peter hadn't realised that the four bags on the counter were all for Bucky until the man paid, then saw Bucky stop for a moment.

"You know, we came here on a _motorbike."_ Peter reminded him, and Bucky sighed.

"Are you local? We can arrange delivery; they leave shortly but they can drop them off if you're okay with them just being in the bags." The girl offered, and Peter was almost expecting Bucky to hug her, as he accepted and gave the address and delivery instructions. She didn't react to the location; nor did she react to Bucky's warning of "If Tony Stark comes to accept, don't give it to him." They gave their thank yous to the girl, and left the store. It was a quick ride on the bike back to the Tower, and they were soon inside. They had only been there a few minutes when Friday announced there was a delivery. Tony opened his mouth, probably to demand to know who the hell was delivery to his tower, when he saw Bucky race from the lounge everyone was in.

"Wait, wait. The hell? Bucky got a delivery? To my house? You helped with this!" Tony said, pointing a finger at Peter, who was sprawled over one of the couches. "And how do you always look so comfortable?!"

"Well, you know how Bucky picked me up from school?" Peter asked, and Tony's face went white.

"No?!"

"Huh, well he did and we went-"

Peter was interrupted by Bucky returning from the elevator, two plastic bags in each hand. He set the bags on the ground, and began to pull boxes out; then he walked over, and silently handed a box to everyone in the room. Tony looked the most stunned, he was the last one to be given a box; Peter hadn't been given one, he had taken the small one with him in his backpack, he would give it to Ned at school tomorrow. Peter watched with curious interest as everyone looked at the boxes they had been given, Bucky stood in the kitchen, arms folded while he leant back against the dining table.

Natasha had been given a black corvette stingray; her favourite car for missions.

Bruce had been given an elephant; Bucky knew the man had spent some time in India, and didn't know much else about the place.

Clint had been given a small doghouse; it even had a little golden dog with it. Bucky knew that the archer owned a dog.

Steve had been given a bike; a BMW R71. Bucky knew it wasn't an American bike, but he liked the look of it.

Tony stared at the box of lego he had been given; the stark tower. He held it in both hands, running his thumb over the front of it without saying anything.

"You got us lego?" Clint asked, breaking the stunned silence. Bucky simply nodded. He picked up a bag from the floor, which was still full of lego boxes and left to his room. Once they heard the door to his room click shut, Tony was the first to say anything.

"What the fuck?"

"Language." Peter said, muffled by the soft cushions he had seemingly sunk into while he watched from the couch.

"Don't start. This is your fault." Tony said, looking at the box still.

"He just turned up. I figured we were coming here, not going to a toy store."

"A _store?"_ Steve and Tony both asked, ignoring a muffled 'jinx' from Peter. Peter pulled his face from the cushions, and rested his head against them, still sprawled out on the couch.

"Yes?" Peter was a little confused by their shocked gasps.

"He went inside a store? He bought stuff at a store?" Tony was rambling now.

"Well we got inside, a young who worked there told us where the lego was, then helped Bucky find stuff when he was a little lost."

"Oh my god do I have to pay for workers comp?!" Tony was stunned, the works falling out of his mouth.

"What, why?!" Peter asked laughing at the look on Tony's face. "If anyone's getting worker's comp it's me."

"You get nothing and you'll like it." Tony said, grinning at Peter.

"What was she like?" Steve asked, looking at Peter.

"Umm, nice? She wasn't much older than me, blonde, really friendly…why are you looking like that? What answer did you want?"

"What was she like _with him?"_

"Oh my good god is she dead? What'd she say? Oh my god if she-"

Peter was laughing, an arm dangling off the couch as he laughed, eyes shut, facing towards the ceiling. He took in some breaths to calm himself, before facing Steve and with bright eyes; they seemed to glisten, wet from tears due his laughter.

"She was fine! Really, she was fine. It was like watching her help a child, actually. She looked at the arm once or twice, but never when he was looking at her. She offered delivery when Bucky realized we had too much to take on the bike, she was just nice." Steve looked relieved, and glad. Tony also looked relived.

"Well, good. How do I give a raise to someone who doesn't work for me?" He asked, looking at the ceiling in thought.

"Tony, what?" Steve looked at Tony, eyebrows raised.

"How many people do you think would have been okay with Bucky being there? She could've been nasty, or rude, or just screamed at him to leave. She deserves something."

Tony and Steve fell into a friendly argument over what Tony wanted to do, and why Steve didn't know if giving her a raise was necessary, or if it was even possible. Peter's phone beeped with a message; he read it quickly and groaned as he lifted himself from the couch.

"Bad news?" Tony asked.

"Decathlon practice was meant to be tomorrow, it's this afternoon as of now." Peter groaned, and left the tower with a goodbye wave to the group. It was at two in the morning when his phone rang, waking him up.

"What?" he asked into the phone, not bothering to check who was calling.

"Teach me how to do these lego things." It was Clint.

"What are you talking about? Just stick em together."

"Kid, you're the only one of us with any sort of normal childhood, and America didn't even have lego until Steve was mid freeze. So, come on."

"Ask Bucky?"

"He's asleep."

"Because it is _two in the morning."_

"We'll drive you to school!" Clint offered, and Peter didn't say anything as he reached his arm out over the bedside table. "Kid! Teach me lego!" Peter heard faintly as he hung up on Clint, and dropped the phone.

"He hung up on me!" Clint was astonished, looking at everyone who was sitting around the dining table. They had their given lego in front of them, in differing stages of completion.

"It is two o'clock in the morning, on a Monday night." Bruce pointed out. They had all been drinking, except for Tony who had lemonade, and Bucky, who was in his bedroom.

"Well someone go get him!" Tony said, fiddling with a piece of his tower that wouldn't connect properly. "How the hell do we bribe him here?"

"Tony, none of us can drive!" Clint wailed; Steve had even been able to drink. Thor had offered him some of the beer he had brought from Asgard; it had proved to be the only thing capable of getting Steve inebriated in any way.

"Tony can!" Steve argued, as he carefully clicked some pieces of lego together.

"He won't though." Natasha pointed out, as Bucky emerged from his bedroom. He froze when he came into the dining area, obviously not expecting the group.

"Bucky can go!" Clint shouted, and there was a loud murmur of agreement.

"Go where?" Bucky asked, unsure and tired.

"Go get the spider!" Tony said, grinning.

"It's two in the morning, and, why don't you get him?"

The nervous look on Tony's face answered enough, as did I the way Tony seemed to shake as he spoke, he tried to hide it. "I'm having too much fun here."

"Okay…so why am I getting him?"

"To help with lego!" Clint explained as if Bucky should have guessed.

"Uh…huh…"

"Bucky go get him, please?!" Tony was ready to beg; he wanted Peter to see his lego tower.

"Okay, but why me?" Bucky asked, still really not understanding what was going on.

"We're all drunk, except Tony because he's a good boy, and we want the kid here to say we did good." Clint explained, his last drink finally hitting him. "Also, I'm hopeless at reliving my childhood, and this kind of sucks with only adults." The others nodded at Clint.

Bucky let out a sigh.

"Bucky, what do you want?" Tony offered, hoping for something.

"More lego?" Bucky offered, smirking.

"How much?"

"Uhhh…how much can I have?"

"As much as you want if you go get Peter!" Tony stood up and threw him arms in the air, Bucky was grinning.

"Alright, should have just asked; I'll go get him." Bucky said, waving goodbye to the group as he headed for the garage. He heard a shout of "Steve your friend is literally the worst!" as he made his escape. Bucky's bike roared to life, and he shot from the garage into the cold night air. It wasn't cold enough to make him worry, and his arm didn't alert him; it was refreshing, and made him feel more awake. He pulled into a drive through, and grabbed a drink and burger; he quickly ate the burger in the parking area before leaving, drink tucked safely into a cup-holder on the bike. He took off again, shooting into the nearly empty streets and heading to the address that Friday had given him. Bucky came to a stop outside the apartment building, and made his way to the door that matched the number he was given. He knocked gently, and heard no response inside. He knocked again a little louder then leant against the wall beside the door, and waited.

Peter groaned into his pillow when he first the first series of knocks, then groaned again at the second lot. He rolled out of bed, knowing whoever it was wasn't going to leave, and headed to the door. He realised he wasn't wearing a shirt, just black sweatpants and decided it didn't matter; it was after two in the morning after all.

"If it's Tony or Clint, I might actually punch them." Peter moaned to himself before opening the door.

"Surprise, it's neither." Bucky said, grinning at Peter.

"If I close my eyes, I can pretend you're Clint." Peter said, resting his hands on either side of the door, leaning forward slightly.

"Would it help if I said I got you a milkshake?" Bucky asked, offering the drink.

"Depends on the flavour." Peter said, taking the drink; he took a sip, as he stepped back and closed the front door of his apartment.


	23. Chapter 23 - Late Pick Ups

**Chapter 23**

 **Late Pick Ups**

Bucky stared at the door; he could hear faint footsteps behind it as Peter moved through the apartment. The movement stopped, and Bucky rolled his eyes. He turned away from the door and left down the staircase, he was smirking to himself as he pulled out his phone and dialed the tower.

"Hello?" Tony came back, obviously talking from the dining table. "Don't talk and drive with the kid, alright? Very unsafe."

"Don't worry, I'm not." Bucky said as he climbed onto his bike.

"…..you don't have him, do you?" Tony asked, and Bucky gave a barking laugh in reply. He hung up, pushed the phone back into his pocket and took off. He pulled into the garage just as rain began to splash against the back of his neck; it was heavy rain, with fat, cold droplets.

He shook his hair off as he came out of the elevator.

"Where is he?!" Clint shouted.

"In bed, I'm guessing." Bucky said as he slid into a seat next to Steve. "Nice work." Bucky said glancing at Steve's lego motorbike; Steve beamed.

"You have to compliment all of us now; the kid isn't here."

"Agent Barnes suggested I take a photo of you all working on your projects and send it to Mister Parker; I have done so." Friday's voice came.

"…any response?" Tony asked.

"No."

"So what happened, did he not answer?" Bruce asked.

"He came to the door mumbling about punching whoever was there. I offered a milkshake, which he took before shutting the door in my face." Bucky said, grinning as he told the story.

"…he shut a door in your face?" Clint asked in disbelief.

"Certainly did."

"But…he was meant to come look at our legos." Clint whined to himself. Bucky laughed, and left for his room; he had only meant to come out for water, not an almost kidnapping. Bucky slept well that night.

The next day, he regretted waking up. So did Peter; school was long, and the rain had continued so they were stuck inside for recess. He was at home making dinner when his phone rang. He set the call to speaker and rested it on the counter nearby as he was busy chopping stuff for dinner.

"Hey Mister Stark."

"Hey favourite intern."

"Still the only one. You know."

"Always will be." Peter rolled his eyes at the soft 'aww' he heard from May in the background.

"Why the call? Aren't you at a dinner tonight with Pepper, fundraising or something?"

"So kind of you to remember but no; it's been rearranged. I am now trying to find somewhere for Bucky to stay."

"What? Why?"

"Only for a few days, like three at most. We've got a SHIELD person coming to the tower, to do some stuff with Clint and Natasha. We'll all avoid her best we can, the two people she's here to see don't even wanna see her, but Bucky is…really freaked out about her being here."

"Is she staying at the tower?"

"Good god no, I'd throw her out a window if she even suggested it. No, but she'll be here from sun up to past sun down, and I think the idea of it is just getting to him. I'm just trying to figure out…where to put him. Steve has to be here, he's technically SHIELD, and he doesn't trust the person enough to leave Clint and Natasha with them alone."

"Okay…..why?"

"Steve…might have overheard someone at SHIELD make nasty comments about Clint, and he's 95 percent sure it was this woman. I'm staying here mostly on the off chance she makes one while he's around."

"Uhhh, yeah that's tough. Maybe a hotel? No, he'd want someone he knows there I guess. Uhh- oh, hang on May wants to talk to you. Whatever she offers say no!" Peter said as May gingerly slid the phone down the counter, away from Peter so that he couldn't hang up the call.

"Mister Stark?"

"Hello, lovely May! What do I owe the pleasure?"

May's laugh was bright, Tony and Peter loved it.

"You're trying to find somewhere for a team member to stay?"

"Yeah, do you know anywhere, maybe more private? I've run out of ideas."

"I'll be out of town from tomorrow morning, for…it should be about a week, maybe a week and a half. I only got the call this morning, he's welcome to stay here. Peter can stay as well, if your team member would prefer."

Peter choked on his own spit; a spoon clattered to the ground. There was silence on the phone.

"Mister Stark? Tony?" May asked when there was just silence.

"I…uh…did you just offer for someone from my _team_ to stay at your apartment?"

"Of course! It's no trouble, really. My bed won't be used, and I will put some clean bedding on it for your friend, or he can use the couch if he'd rather."

"Uhhh… that's… wow."

"What's his name?"

"…..Bucky."

"Oh, does he not have a team name? Like your other friends?"

"Uhhh…Peter can tell you, we'll arrange for him to get there tomorrow, after Peter's home from school. Happy, be careful! Okay, okay I'm coming. Sorry May, loved the chat! Bye!"

With that, the call ended. Peter finished dinner and served out two portions, which they ate quickly before settling on the couch.

"Peter?"

"…yes May?"

"What's his name?"

"…The Winter Soldier; he's Captain Rogers friend."

He could see May frown, but her face relaxed after a few seconds.

"Ah yes, I know who you mean now. If you think of anything he might like to eat, would you write a note for me? I can get some stuff before my flight tomorrow."

Aunt May left the couch, leaving Peter gobsmacked. He heard her go to her room, the door shutting behind her so she could get ready for bed. Peter went to bed a short while after but afters hours of laying awake, he fell asleep only to have one of his worst nightmares yet, and woke up with cold sweat clinging to his face. He groaned at the time, six o'clock in the morning, and decided to just get ready early, and say goodbye to May. She came home and was surprised, but delighted to see Peter was awake to see her off; she had gotten a few things fro the shops while she collected some stuff from work. Peter had left her a note in the end, before he went to bed. Thy said their goodbyes, and parted ways.

The day went by far too quickly, and Peter was soon back home; he was walking up the stairs when he saw his neighbor struggling to move a wooden cabinet.

"Ahh Peter!" the woman said, her accent thickly Italian.

"Buon pomeriggio, what are you up to?" He asked, gesturing at the cabinet.

"Ah! My son wants it for his home, for his wife! I wanted to get it downstairs for him to make easier but, forgot how heavy it is." She said, looking sadly at the cabinet.

"Oh, if you like you can come get me when he arrives and I can help him take it down." Peter offered and the woman smiled widely at him. He smiled back, and caught a flash of movement of the stairs.

"Peter!" Tony said, coming into view, Bucky behind him with a duffle bag over one shoulder.

"Hey Mister Stark, hey Bucky." He waved at the two, and threw his keys to Tony. "Let yourself in, I'm waiting for someone to arrive to help them with the cabinet."

"Ah, to be young!" Tony said, and went to the door to let them in. "Such a kind neighbor, though I don't see you moving stuff around my place."

"Would you let me? Would Friday let me?"

"Not answering! Ah, we're in!" Tony said, and moved into the apartment. Peter shook his head but smiled.

"Would you like a hand?" Peter heard Bucky, and saw that he was looking at Peter's neighbor. Peter also noticed that Bucky was wearing a hoodie, with sleeves. _Thank god._ He thought.

"Ahh, handsome young man – no no! Peter has offered, my son bringing his truck, Peter can help him move."

"Peter had school all day, I'm happy to help; keeps me busy." Bucky said, smiling gently, Peter had never seen Bucky smile like that. The neighbor seemed unsure, but nodded gently after some hesitation.

"Where were you taking it?"

"Downstairs dear, front of the building. Oh, that's his truck now!" She said, smile bright as they all heard the tell tale sound of a truck beeping as it reversed. Bucky nodded, and placed his bag onto the ground. Bucky moved over to the cabinet, placed his hands strategically on the wood, and lifted. The cabinet came up as if it weighed nothing, and Bucky made quick work of carrying it downstairs to the waiting truck, and the very Italian man who drove it.

"My goodness! Peter, what friends you have now!" She said, laughing as Bucky came back in the door. She saw Tony in the hallway, and her eyes flashed. "Ahh! Stark! Peter has spoken about you, May also! You are a part of Mister Stark's team?" She asked, eyes on Bucky who simply nodded before ducking into Peter's apartment. Tony grinned at the woman and followed after Bucky.

"Sorry, he's…a little nervous, first time away from home in a long time." Peter explained, and she nodded sympathetically.

"Ah yes, it hurts – to miss home, especially if you have loved ones there still. The…other man, Stark – he is the one you protected, yes?" She was cautious, not wanting to push Peter, but wanted to know if Tony was indeed why Peter had been injured. Peter just smiled and rolled his eyes.

"Yes he is, I should go help him settle." Peter said, and waved goodbye as he headed back into the apartment; he felt the door click shut, and gave out a heavy sigh as he locked it.

"Peter! I had no idea your neighbours are Italian!" Tony was sitting on the couch, a coffee in hand.

"She's not home much, she helps run a flower shop with her daughter, and is usually overseas seeing family. She's nice though, made me cookies when she heard I nearly got blown up." Tony's chest heaved at how casually Peter said it, while he was making a packet of hot chocolate.

"Did she make them twice, then?" Bucky asked, coming back out of May's bedroom.

"No, I know she heard about the other expo but I think she was overseas when it happened; not polite to bring it up later, you know?" Peter explained as he dropped into a wooden dining chair. "There's stuff in the kitchen for you; bottom shelf in the fridge, and whatever is in that corner on the counter." Peter said, pointing with a wave of his hand. He heard Tony's phone beep from within whatever pocket it had been stuffed in; Tony groaned and rubbed his face with both hands.

"Well, that's the Captain wanting me back. Let's see if he hasn't thrown her out a window himself."

Fifteen minutes later, Peter was left in his apartment with Bucky; though if Peter hadn't been aware he was there, he'd have no idea. Bucky had gone into May's bedroom and shut the door when Tony left and hadn't come back out since. Peter had spread his homework out on the dining table and was busy with chemistry work when there was a knock at the front door. Peter opened the door to find his elderly Italian neighbor, with a full plate of biscuits in her hands.

"Ahh Tesoro, Peter! For your friend, many thanks for the help. My son was startled!" She said, pushing the loaded plate into Peter's hands. "Such a nice man, your friend! Such strength!"

Peter laughed as he accepted the plate. "Grazie, he's in the shower, I'll give them to once he's out." He said, and she seemed happy with the answer as she went back to her own apartment. Peter closed the door and turned, to see Bucky in the living room.

"Uhhh, neighbor brought you biscuits." He said, holding up the plate in his hand. He put the plate in the kitchen and went back to his homework, Bucky sat on the couch in the living room; obviously feeling a little lost.

"Why did she bring biscuits?" Bucky asked suddenly, his voice unsure.

"To say thanks. It must be an Italian thing, another neighbor used to do it before they moved."

"Do you help them a lot?"

"I…might let my strength be known a little more in the building, just enough to be able to help; school is where I hide it."

"Do your neighbors need help a lot?"

"Well they all seem to be elderly, so yes."

Bucky didn't say anything more, and Peter settled back into doing his homework. The afternoon passed quickly, and Peter was getting ready for patrol when there was a knock at his door.

"Yesss?" he called out in a sing song voice, and Bucky opened the door with an eyebrow raised.

"Is that the voice you use when you're in a good mood, or when you want everyone to go away without wanting to say so?"

"Do you want to guess?" Peter asked, clicking his webshooters into place on his wrists and flexing his fingers.

"Hmm, I'd rather not."

"Fair enough, what did you need?"

"When do you get back?"

"Uhhh, depends on how the night goes. I'd say around midnight, maybe one if it's a busy night." Peter said, and saw something on Bucky's hip he hadn't noticed earlier. "You always carry a gun?"

"Only when I'm out of my comfort zone." Bucky said, leaning against the door frame.

Peter slid his window open and swung a leg through the opening. "Aww, here I was thinking you didn't have a comfort zone." He said, throwing himself out of the window and swinging off into the city. Bucky could hear the shrill whoop as Peter moved further away from the building. He rolled his eyes and went back to the couch; he laid down over it again, book in his hands. Close to ten o'clock, Bucky decided the apartment was too small, and he couldn't stand it. He left the apartment, and looked until he found the staircase that went to the rooftop. The air out on the roof was rich, and cold; Bucky was glad he could be outside, even if he was a stranger to the people in the building. Bucky sat down, leaning against an air unit and went back to his book. He couldn't focus, and ended up just looking out over the city; the city was bright even this late, and seemed to drown out the stars.

Bucky heard something approaching the roof, and looked up in time to see Peter swung overhead, flip over the building as he let go of his web, before shooting out a new one and swinging away on another building. His arm began to beep gently, and he knew he should head back inside. He picked up his book from the floor where he had thrown it, and headed back inside. His head was already aching, and his vision had become somewhat blurry. His foot missed the last step to get onto Peter's floor, and he fell; his flesh shoulder struck the ground and he felt the pain shoot up into his arm and neck. He closed his eyes and hissed against his teeth, then his head was flooded with the same pain as his shoulder; Bucky faded out of consciousness on the floor, on the landing.

Peter returned home much earlier than usual, and couldn't find Bucky; he had decided to come back earlier than planned so that Bucky wasn't alone for too long, but he hadn't found the man anywhere. Peter frowned, and heard a knock at his door. He rushed over and yanked it open to find the very Italian granddaughter of his neighbour; she was speaking quickly, in a mixture of Italian and heavily accented English. Peter looked at her in confusion, and she grabbed his arm and pulled him from the apartment. She was still speaking rapidly when they came to the landings staircase, and Peter saw Bucky slumped down, sitting with his back against the wall.

"Bucky, what the hell?" Peter rushed over and crouched next to the man. His elderly neighbour was there as well, obviously concerned for the man she had found in the hallway. He checked Bucky's head, then saw the bruising that was faint on his shoulder; what had happened?

"You two head back inside, he might panic if you're here when he wakes up." Peter said, adjusting Bucky's hoodie under the guise of checking for more bruising.

"Your friend, what has happened?" The elderly woman asked.

"He…he's a friend of my boss really; he's staying with me while his new house is finished, all I know is he has some war injuries." Peter rambled, stretching the truth just a little. "I'll keep an eye on him here until he wakes up, then I can move him inside." The elderly woman and her granddaughter nodded, and moved back to their own apartment; they hovered at the door a moment, looking at the two before heading inside and closing the door.

"Too cold, huh?" Peter muttered to himself, he had been able to hear Bucky's arm beeping softly. He waited a minute before scooping Bucky up, and carrying him into the apartment. Peter closed the door with his foot, and lowered Bucky onto the couch. Bucky groaned as Peter stepped back, and his eyes opened slowly. Bucky reached up to rub his head, using his flesh arm; the pain shot through his shoulder and neck, and he gave a shout of pain, clutching the shoulder with his metal arm. Bucky looked around with half shut eyes, and his blurry vision found Peter; the boy was in the kitchen, going through a basket in a cupboard above his head. The room was blurry, but if Bucky kept his eyes on the one spot, in eventually came into focus; Peter and the kitchen slowly became a solid picture in his vision, the edges of his eyes still blurry.

"Peter?" He asked, his voice weak. Peter looked at Bucky, and Bucky saw that Peter was holding his phone to his hear.

"No, you called me at two in the morning to help with lego; I get to call you now to help with this." Peter said into the phone, and rolled his eyes at the reply he had gotten. "No the arm registered the cold, but maybe too late? I'm not sure, he was in the hallway and my neighbour apparently just found him like that. I can understand three words of italian, I don't know ninety-five percent of what she said!"

Peter moved a pot of water onto the stove, and emptied three hot chocolates packets into it, the phone held between his ear and shoulder. He grabbed a small whisk from a drawer, and closed it with his hip; he held the phone close to his head while he stirred the contents of the pot.

"We're going to have to tweak it, I know; it's no good of an upgrade if it doesn't register in time. Maybe we need to broaden its sensors? The temperature reader is only meant to read significant changes, but it doesn't do much if it's so sudden we can't do anything." Peter poured the hot chocolate into two cups, and held the phone with his hand as he carried a cup over and set it on the coffee table near Bucky; he pointed from the cup to Bucky, and turned away slowly.

"No, I've trapped him in the walk in freezer I keep downstairs." Peter said, rolling his eyes as he grabbed his own cup of hot chocolate. "No scratch that, I'm actually throwing ice cubes at him as we speak, I'm sure he'll see the fun in it soon; I'm making him hot chocolate and trying to remember where we keep the heater we got last winter. I'm sure it'd help me remember if we ever actually used it." Peter said, sitting up on the counter. "We never use it because it's _expensive._ Us peasants have to worry about stuff like that. Bucky drink your hot chocolate." Peter shot out at Bucky, who was still lying on the couch. "He might do it if Steve said to, I'll talk to you later." Peter said, and ended the call with a heavy sigh.

"When did you get so bossy?" Bucky asked, sitting up and reaching for the cup; it was hot against his flesh hand, and the warmth was welcoming.

"When you nearly gave my elderly Italian neighbour a heart attack." Peter said accusingly, glaring at Bucky over the top of the cup as he took a sip; Peter winced at the heat of the liquid. "So, what happened?"

"What do you mean what happened? It got cold."

"You fell, I think; you weren't attacking anyone, you weren't outwardly freaking out."

"I…I dunno, it beeped; it said the air was getting cold so I decided to come back in, and sit on the couch with a blanket or something. It…sometimes it does just knock me out a bit, I'm usually somewhere near a bed or couch though, or near Steve." Bucky said, looking at the cup of hot chocolate. He heard Peter mumble something, not quite catching it; his head was throbbing too much to concentrate on any noises.

"Pardon kid?" he asked, looking up at Peter.

"Nothing, see you in the morning." Peter said quietly, going to his room; he didn't close the door all the way, he left it open just enough in case Bucky needed help.


	24. Chapter 24 - Birds Don't Belong In Vents

**Chapter 24**

 **Birds Don't Belong In Vents**

The next few days of Bucky's visit went by quickly; it was early in the morning on Bucky's last day in the apartment, that Bucky knocked on the door to Peter's room before opening the door. Peter was in bed, one arm hanging over the edge of the mattress, the rest of his body covered in the blanket.

"Kid, you up?"

"If I say no will you go away?" Came Peter's muffled voice, he burrowed himself further into the blanket.

"Sorry kid; got a call from Tony. Apparently we're needed."

"Whhhhyyyyy?" Peter whined from underneath his blanket. "What time is it?"

"Bit past three, I offered to go on my own but apparently I'm needed purely to take you, I don't think I'm overly necessary."

"Why do they want me at three in the morning? Why is it always so early with you people?" Peter asked, exasperated; he pulled the blanket from his face and glared at Bucky. "Why do they want _me_ specifically? _At three in the morning?"_

"Something about getting a bird out of the vents? That's what Tony said, so I'm guessing there's a hidden meaning."

" _Oh my gooooood, whhhyyyy_?" Peter threw the blanket off of his body and sat up, rubbing his eyes with his fists.

"What if I promise to get you something on the way there?" Bucky offered, smirking at the teen. Peter stood up, and pulled a hoodie over his pyjama shirt, and headed out to the lounge; he brushed past Bucky, his skin barely touching the man's metal arm. Bucky stared at Peter, a frown forming on his face.

"Come on then, maybe they'll let me sleep once I solve their animal control problem." Peter grumbled, and left the apartment in his bed clothes. Bucky followed, and the two climbed onto Bucky's bike; it purred, before roaring into life as they took off. The drive was quick, and soon they pulled into the garage and headed to the hallway that Friday said everyone had gathered in. They walked up to find Bruce, Tony and Natasha staring up at the ceiling; there was another woman nearby, with blonde hair and bright pink lips.

"You know animal control exists, right?" Peter offered, and the group turned to see him and Bucky.

"I highly doubt we need a child for this Mister Stark." The blonde woman said, looking Peter up and down.

"Sorry have we met before?" Peter asked, looking at the woman.

"Michelle." She said, holding a hand out; Peter brushed past her and stood next to Tony, who was staring at the ceiling with his arms crossed.

"Mister Stark, what's happening? Bird problem?" Peter asked, looking at the ceiling as well.

"Well, in a way. Clint went into the vents earlier today, and Friday told us he hasn't moved in like…3 hours. Clint doesn't just stay still; he barely sleeps, so I doubt he's asleep up there. We're worried somethings happened."

"Like what?" Bucky asked, also brushing past Michelle.

"Mister Stark, as I said; this is a matter for SHIELD, I will contact Phil an-"

"God who knows. A seizure, an asthma attack; he could've had some kind of PTSD flashback and injured himself in the space." Tony rubbed his chin with a hand, before refolding his arms. "Problem is, none of us fit."

"I feel like you're ignoring Natasha, but sure; so I'm here to get Clint back?"

"Kind of, sorry." Tony looked from Natasha to Peter. "Long story but Nat's a no go on this."

"What's the plan then? Oh, Bucky, did Tony call you?" Steve asked, coming up to the group. "Oh, hey Peter. You here to help?"

"Absolutely not!" Michelle shouted. "He is a child; he shouldn't even be in this building! Take him home, leave him there, and I will call Phil Coulson to deal with his agent!" She was annoyed to see that no one was looking at her; they likely weren't even listening. She huffed, and saw the child they had called Peter go back down the hallway. "Thank goodness."

"Ready kid?" Steve asked, and waited. The sound of metal sliding against metal came over the speakers in the hall, then a grunt.

"Ready to go, is he definitely above you guys?" Peter's voice came over the speakers, they could hear the sound of metal being pushed against as he moved through the vent.

"Not a doubt in my mind; Friday's been watching his heat signature. You're not too fa- he's moving!" Tony shouted suddenly, and Natasha went still. "He's…okay he's stopped again, looks like he's dropped out of the vents, not sure what room he's in but it's small."

Peter followed the vent, listening for the sounds of Clint moving in the metal vents. It was easy enough to follow, Peter just had to move quickly. They heard a hiss and a muttering complaint over the speakers.

"Mister Stark, why are your vents so sharp?"

"I'll get them looked at, not far now kid."

"I can see the vent grate, he hasn't closed it." Peter said as he came to the grate and peered down the hole; the room was small, and looked like it was for storage. Peter slowly lowered himself before dropping to the ground; he heard a movement behind him, and turned to see Clint. He was standing in a corner, bow and arrow in hand; the bow was loaded, and was aimed at Peter.

"Oh, hey Clint." Peter said, trying not to let his voice shake.

"Kid? Why are you here?" Clint asked, his voice harsh. He was trembling.

"Tony called me, at three in the morning, to come get a bird out his vents." Peter moved a step closer; the string on the bow was pulled back another inch. "I didn't realise it was you though. Why you in the vents?"

"…I just like being in them."

"Fair enough, why'd you come out then?" Peter took another quick step, and swallowed his spit when he heard the string get tighter. "It's just me Clint, no one else can follow you in the vents. So come on dude, just tell me; if you don't want me around after a chat, I'll hop back up into the vent and get lost."

Peter heard a soft 'thank goodness' in his ear, and he rolled his eyes.

"Kid?"

"Nothing just…I don't think that SHIELD lady likes me much." Peter was relieved to see the corners of Clint's mouths pull into a smile for a second, before falling back into an anxious scowl.

"Yeah, I know the feeling." Clint whispered, looking at the ground before a second. Peter used that second, and stepped forward twice. Clint looked back up and saw Peter was closer. The tip of the arrow was almost brushing against Peter's chest. "Kid…" Clint whispered, his hands shaking.

"I've taken two bombs for Tony now, I can take this." Peter whispered, and slowly held his hand out, and grabbed the arrow; Peter yanked, ducking down just enough to pull the arrow over his shoulder and free of Clint's grasp. Clint gave a startled yelp, and pulled back his bow as Peter reached forward again and grabbed it.

"Kid, let go." Clint said, pleading. "It'll hurt, it's not made for anyone else. Tony, tell him to let go!"

"Kid if you are holding that bow you're a brave idiot; let go of it. Now."

"Clint, what happened?" Peter asked, ignoring the two men. "I'll let go, just tell me." Peter's hand was tingling; it felt something was going to happen. He knew it wasn't going to be good.

"She said something, about Loki; earlier." Clint whispered, and Peter nodded but kept his hand firmly on the bow. "Kid… _let go."_

"It is past three o'clock in the morning, on a day that I have school. I am not going back home without sorting this out, because god dammit I need some sleep. Come on Clint!" Peter said, his voice low; he was starting to panic. His hand desperately wanted to be away from the bow; Peter didn't know why.

"I killed them." Clint whispered, eyes looking at the ground. "So many people died, and I did it. I know I did it; I don't need to be reminded."

" _What?"_ Peter whispered; it was a growl more than anything, then he winced in pain. An electric shock had jumped from the bow into his hand, shooting up his arm to his shoulder. Peter gasped, the shock had made his hand clench even tighter; his eyes shut as he tried to pull his hand away. Clint slid his fingers between the bow and Peter's skin, and pulled them apart. Peter stumbled, and fell sideways against the wall. He took a deep breath, and let it out with a shudder.

"Don't like electricity." He whispered, pulling his sleeves down to cover both hands.

"Kid…" Clint started, but Peter held a hand up.

"Clint, don't." Peter said, and moved to the door of the storage room. "Come on, Nat's worried."

Clint followed, slowly. "Since when do you call her Nat?"

"Don't tell her." Peter said, grinning sheepishly; also, pleading a little.

"Can't she hear you?"

"Trying not to think about it." Peter admitted, and he lead Clint back upstairs. Peter didn't so much lead, as walk side by side with Clint. They came into the lounge, and saw everyone standing around, or busying themselves. Natasha ran up and wrapped her arms around Clint; Peter heard them talking in what he guessed was Russian.

"Alright!" Peter said, clapping his hands together and turning towards the elevator. "Who's driving me home?" He shouted back, not wanting to face any of them; his eyes stung from trying to keep the tears back. It was Tony who ended up driving him. Peter slid into the passenger seat of Tony's car and they pulled out of the garage, but left the wrong direction from the driveway.

"Going the long way?" Peter asked, staring out of the window. His arm was on fire beneath his sleeve; he desperately wanted to tear at the skin with his nails, scratch the skin until it stopped hurting, or until he scratched it enough to make a new pain, whichever worked.

"Kid, that wa-"

"Don't." Peter said firmly, cutting off Tony. Tony kept his eyes on the road.

"How's your hand?" Tony asked. There was some silence, as Peter stared at the lights that went by his window.

"Where the hell does she get off?" Peter asked, pull his sleeve back so that the cold air could touch the skin. "Wasn't that the entire point of Steve staying? To stop her being nasty? Also, what the hell did I do to her?"

"About you, got no idea. About Clint; we don't know when she said it, or what she said exactly. She could've muttered it passing him in the hall." Tony said, his knuckles had gone white from holding the steering wheel so tightly. He hadn't realised how tight he was holding it. "About your hand?"

Tony didn't expect an answer; he pulled the car into a carpark outside a large restaurant. He motioned for Peter to follow him inside; Peter did, but not without rolling his eyes. They were seated in the back of the all-night restaurant; Tony had decided on a strawberry smoothie, while Peter had a hot chocolate. Two large plates of pancakes, bacon and eggs arrived; they ate silently for a little while, trying to unwind after the strange night.

"It sucked; it hurt a lot." Peter said, not looking up from his plate as he spoke. "My spidey senses knew it was coming; I didn't know what was gonna happen but, my hand was ready to rip itself off the bow."

"Why didn't you let it?" Tony asked; he wanted to add _the hell_ to his question but settled for what he figured would actually get an answer.

"Clint was…something was wrong. He doesn't usually stay still in hallway vents; he doesn't like them for some reason. The look on his face in that room; I wouldn't have been able to dodge that arrow." Peter's was barely above a whisper; his injured hand was shaking against the table.

"Wait, what arrow? He aimed at you?"

"I think he would've aimed at Natasha if she had come in. He wasn't ready for anyone to be in there with him."

They went back to eating; the restaurant wasn't busy, and Peter liked the dull background chatter of the few people that were there to eat.

"I'll call May in the morning; I'll explain that I brought you over to help me with an emergency. Just stay home today; do homework, catch up on sleep, watch movies with Bucky and Steve…just, I'm sorry kid." Tony had leant back in his seat, and was watching Peter.

"Nothing to be sorry for." Peter said, leaning back as well; he was smiling. "Things happen, sometimes you need help."

"Yeah…" Tony sighed, staring at the ceiling.

"Do you need help?" Peter asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Me? I always do. The team? Also always. Bucky and Steve have been….weird."

"As opposed to?"

"You're awfully snarky to the two people you dreamed about killing you, ya know?" Tony said, and hated himself. He saw the realisation cross Peter's features. "Kid, I didn't mean…"

"They told you?"

"Umm, not so much. I overheard Bucky and Steve having another married couple spat. Bucky wasn't…originally keen, on staying at your place. He was worried; I heard Bucky trying to convince that the nightmares were proof enough it was a bad idea…and…I don't really know what to say."

Peter was smiling, weakly, but at least he wasn't frowning

"What did Steve say?"

"He was politely telling Bucky to shut the hell up and go pack his bag." Tony was pleased when Peter let out a snort.

"It's weird to think that Steve's the youngest of the two of em; he seems to be the one wrangling Bucky rather than the other way round." Peter took a sip of his hot chocolate and frowned.

"You okay kid?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Just thinking. It's just weird to think that Captain America isn't much older than me."

"Huh?" Tony definitely wasn't expecting that.

"Well, he was only in his early twenties he did the serum thing, right?"

"Right, and?"

"….and then he got frozen. In time." Peter said, pausing where needed; he could see the realisation of what he said wash over Tony's face.

" _Fuck."_

Peter hears the frantic whisper moments before he's yanked out of his seat and Tony, and then the two of them are running to the car. Peter's laughing so hard his chest hurts as they ride the elevator up to the living floor, and Peter follows behind as Tony half jogs to the door of Steve's room. He bangs on it frantically, ignoring the fact is almost half past four in the morning.

"What? We got him out of the-" Steve mumbled, opening the door to see Tony, and Peter in the background. "Tony? Uhh, why is Peter still here?"

Peter was leaning against the wall of the hallways; shoulder pressing against the wall, arms folded in front of him. He was smiling, and gave a small wave to Steve.

"Steve, you're not much older than him!" Tony breathed out, as if the words had been trapped in his chest.

"Uhhh….I'm a lot older than him, actually."

"No, you got frozen! In time! You're still…like…twenty something technically!"

"Ummm, did you drink at Peter's house? Why does Peter even have booze? Did you even go to Peter's house?"

"I'll be honest it's a little weird when you use my name." Peter said from his place in the hall, still smiling.

"Don't distract him!" Tony half shouted at Peter, and turned back to Steve.

"Steve oh my god! You've gotta catch up on so much young guy stuff; drinking, fast cars, ladies! Oh my god!"

"Dunno if you've noticed but I'm not interested in, or very good at any of those things."

"You drink!"

"Yes, booze made by literal gods because nothing else can get me drunk. How am I meant to find 'ladies' anyway? Dating, or anything, sounds impossible when the five of you also live here."

"I have an idea." Peter said, and the two men looked at them. Peter pointed a finger at each of them, before slowly bringing them together until his fingers touched; he was smirking now, a wide, bright Clint-like smirk. He saw Steve frown, before the man's eyes widened and his face went red; Tony was spluttering, and trying to curse at Peter but his mouth wouldn't make the sounds he wanted.

"Ah Mister Stark, you're back." Michelle said, appearing in the hallway behind Peter. "Ah…both of you are back, I thought you were taking _him_ home."

"Middle of a crisis, thank you! He can stay here in his room, he can go home later a normal time because Steve, oh my god!" Tony was rambling, looking from Michelle to Peter, then back to Steve.

"Tony, it's…much too early for this kind of discussion. Go to bed."

" _No Steve, don't go. I just want to talk to you…Tony no, go, it's too embarrassing…my true feelings…"_ Peter was whispering behind them, still smirking. "I'll leave you two alone then, night!" Peter said cheerily and bounding off to his own room, and shut the door.

"Oh, he is so fired." Tony said, and shot a glare at Steve as the man let out a laugh.

"How do you fire someone who isn't an employee?" Michelle demanded from the hallway.

"He's an intern, is that technically an employee?" Steve asked, looking at Tony.

"Yes, also I can't fire him; his puppy dog eyes would kill me."

"Also his Aunt."

"Well, I'll be sure to arrange transport for him to school at the right time."

"Who the hell do you think you are, exactly?" Tony suddenly demanded, staring at her. "You're in my house, making my team mates hide in vents because of nasty things you said – and I will figure out what you said – now you're demanding that my intern leave my house? No, get out." Tony snapped; he went to the elevator and left to his penthouse without looking at her again, and Steve stepped back into his room and shut the door. He laid in bed, and was almost asleep again when Friday alerted him to a message.

"Who is it from?" Steve asked; it was so _early._

"It is from Mister Parker; the message reads. " _So when's the date?"_


	25. Chapter 25 - Not Good At Swimming

**Chapter 25**

 **Not Good At Swimming**

There was a sharp rap at his bedroom door, then lots more. Tony groaned as the lights in the room slowly brightened, and he tried to ignore the rapping.

"Mister Stark it's time to wake up, come oooooon!" Peter's voice came from the other side of his door.

"Oh my good god, what?" Tony asked, as he opened the door. Peter was dressed and ready to go out; his Loki-shirt, shorts and sandals. Tony stared at the boy; god, even looking at him was exhausting.

"Why'd you come wake me up?"

"Because one; you have no place to stand saying that and two; we're going out, hurry up!" Peter said and bounded off to the elevator, and stood in it.

"Kid, I feel like shit; I know we fucked up waking you up and we'll make it up to you. Just let me sleep."

"Okaaaay." Peter said; his voice sing-song as the elevator doors slid shut. Tony rolled his eyes and threw himself back into bed, only to be shouted at my Bruce over the speakers.

"Tony get down here; don't ruin this for me!"

The shout of a clearly annoyed Bruce startled Tony out of bed, and into fresh clothes. He darted into the elevator and rode it down the main floo- the garage? Tony stepped out to see the team piling into two cars; Natasha driving one, the other one had no driver. _A-ha._

"Ummm…. why are we all so awake and chipper at…eight in the morning?" Tony squeaked when he saw the clock.

"What was that about not having anywhere to stand? Hurry up!" Peter called from the passenger seat of the car with no driver; it was empty except for him. Clint, Natasha and Bruce were in the other car; Tony wondered where Steve and Bucky were, but noticed that both of their bikes were gone. Bewildered, Tony climbed into the driver's seat and started the car; Friday had sent directions to the car already, and then they set off. Peter loved it when they drove fast in Tony's cars, though he never said it; the wide eyes and bright smile on his face gave him away. Peter wound down the window, and looked ahead at the car that Natasha was driving.

"If you try and jump onto that car-" Peter glanced at Tony, who was grinning. "-I'm not coming back for you if you miss."

"No time, we're here." Natasha's voice came over the radio, and they parked both cars. Tony climbed out and looked ahead, the sign said it was a lake but it looked like a god damn ocean; greenery and stupidly blue water stretched in front of them.

"Woo!" Peter shouted as he raced forward, and let himself slide down a small bank of grass to the water's edge. He was careful not to touch the water, just close enough to enjoy the sight. Tony looked to his left and saw a wooden house, more of a mini log mansion than anything, and saw Steve and Bucky's bikes out front. He walked over and realised that everyone else had followed him as well. They threw their bags into the house, apparently someone had packed one for Tony, probably Peter. Steve and Bucky had set up a BBQ and some chairs at the front of the little log mansion and were busy getting the coals started. Everyone settled into a chair, and fell into happy chatter as they waited for the BBQ to get hot enough to cook; Tony was woken up from a half sleep by a dog barking, and a woman shouting.

"Lucky! Laura?!" Clint shouted, seeing his wife, kids and dog walking up the house. Lucky was running actually, with Peter chasing behind him.

"Clint!" She shouted, wrapping her arms around her husband.

"W…what are you doing here?"

"Well, I got a phone call at like five in the morning from…a sixteen year old intern of Stark Industries?" She said rather bewildered, looking at Peter who was busy playing with Lucky and the kids.

"Wait, the kid arranged this?" Tony asked, looking over at his intern. "I get Clint, Steve and Bucky but how did he rope Nat and Bruce into this? Actually, I'm a little stuck on Bucky as well."

"Apparently the kid still had bargaining chip." Clint said, and that was good enough for Tony. They all settled in; some of them had beers, Natasha and Laura shared a bottle of wine while Tony enjoyed cold coke, from a glass bottle no less.

"Daaaaaad!" Came the whine of one of Clint's kids, he looked over and saw his son, and daughter, obviously wanting something. "Can we go tree climbing?"

"Course, we all can!" Clint shouted and jumped out of his seat. The team shrugged; Clint and Natasha went with the kids, Laura decided to stay and rest in her seat, she had brought a book. The group ventured off and found a patch of tall trees nearby, and they quickly climbed up. Clint noticed that Peter was, well, going at a normal speed. He realised; his family didn't know who Peter was, aside from Tony's intern. The group spent an hour or so, climbing the trees. Clint looked up to see his son, far higher up a tree than Clint was okay with.

"Cooper, come down a bit!" He called out. "You'll give me a heart attack."

"Kay Dad!" His kid called back, and began to climb down; Clint heard it before he fell. The branch Cooper rested his foot against came away from the trunk with a loud crack, and he watched in horror son began to fall. He was too far away to help; he wouldn't get there before Cooper hit the ground. Peter had heard it as well, and threw himself off of his own tree that was nearby, and hurtled himself down towards Cooper. The webs would get caught in the branches and not reach Cooper from where he was, so Peter threw himself with as much speed as he could, and grabbed the boy's ankle; he pulled Cooper towards his chest and wrapped his body around the boy moments before they both smashed into the ground; leaves and sticks were thrown up into the air around them. The sound they made when hitting the bark and leaf covered ground was not good; Clint ran over, Lucky beside him and neither of them slowed until they found the two boys in the dirt. Clint forgot about Peter in his rush to lift up his son, and hold him close to his chest.

"Oh my god, Cooper, oh my god I'm so sorry…" Clint rambled in a whisper, holding his son tight; Cooper refused to cry, he wouldn't do it. The boy looked down at Peter, who had rolled onto his back, eyes closed in the dirt and leaves.

"He...is he dead?" Cooper whispered, feeling the tears at his eyes, he buried himself into his father's chest. There was a moment of genuine fear, not like battle fear, that shook the assassin. He stared down at Peter, and saw the boy who Tony had become so protective of.

"Tony's gonna kill me." Clint whispered.

"Not dead…" The voice was soft, and the moan that followed it was not a pleasant one; but Peter was alive. "I survived a building landing on me, this is nothing." Peter slowly rose to his feet and shook the dirt from his hair. Peter refused to let Clint help him walk, Peter knew that Clint desperately wanted to hold his son; they walked back to the house, Peter covered in dirt and scratches, Clint with his son in his arms, horror etched on the mans features. Laura saw them first, and alerted everyone else by shouting something no one understood, as she shot from her seat to her husband and child. She practically knocked Clint over as she wrapped her arms around the two of them, Peter kept walking. He avoided the eyes of everyone else as he wandered into the house, up the main stairs and shut himself in the bathroom on the upper floor.

He looked at his face in the mirror, then let his eyes fall to his side; he lifted his shirt to see the stick that had lodged into his side. There was a knock at the door as Peter was busy pulling the stick out, he hissed when his surprise ended with him yanking it out in a sudden movement. Peter kicked the wall in annoyance, then breathed.

"Kid? You alive?" It was Bucky.

"And kicking."

"I heard. I've been asked to get a number out of ten for how you're doing."

"By who?"

"Uhhhh everyone?"

Bucky heard Peter laugh from the other side of the door.

"Tell them seven, I just need a shower to get all the dirt off, and blood from sticks scratching me but, I'll be fine." Bucky heard the shower start, and headed back outside.

"What do you mean he jumped out of a tree?!" Bucky heard Laura shouting, and saw her staring at Tony and Clint with daggers. "And why did he mention a building falling on him to Cooper?!"

Bucky saw Tony go white, and Clint just stared at his wife; Bucky liked her, she was scary.

"No one has even explained to me what happened, don't shout at me!" Tony tried to defend himself, and saw Bucky walking over. "Oh my god, Bucky; save me. She's worse than Natasha."

"Bucky, darling; don't" Bucky held his hands up, and walked over to Natasha, Bruce and Steve who were watching, while trying not to watch.

"He said seven!" Bucky shouted, and Tony seemed to relax.

"Laura, i-it's nothing! I'll prove it!" Clint shouted, and motioned for Cooper to pick up a stick. "When Peter comes outside, throw the stick at his face." Cooper nodded.

"Shouldn't Steve throw it? More of a challenge." Tony said, and crept away when Laura looked at him again. Tony sat in his chair from earlier, and watched the front door open; the all saw Peter step off the deck, and saw the stick fly towards him. Clint stared at horror as the stick smacked into Peter's side. Peter gasped and clutched a hand to his side, and winced.

"Clint Barton!" Laura shouted.

"He did it on purpose!" Clint shouted as Laura ran over to hug peter; Peter hugged her back, smirking at Clint over her shoulder. Laura let go of Peter and walked back over to Clint, then hugged him. She was shaking, the tears had finally escaped; Clint held her, and whispered to her.

Peter was staring, trying to decide if he wanted to run back inside and avoid the scene; he definitely did. He turned and was walking back towards the house.

"Keep him outside." Tony whispered, and Steve and Bucky smiled; none of them had to act. Lucky came bounding from behind them, making a beeline for Peter. The boy turned, arms open wide and caught Lucky, who had jumped at him. Peter put the dog down and shrugged, before walking off to play fetch with Lucky who was very excited about this. A few minutes later, and the others had quietly found Peter; he was in a more open area, that was flat; Peter was holding a stick for Lucky, who was bouncing around waiting for Peter to throw it.

"Oh, this'll be good." Clint murmured, and they watched as peter pulled his arm back, and threw the stick; it soared across the large empty space, and Lucky bounded after it. Clint had brought his bow and arrow, and stood up behind the ground and took aim; he fired, when Peter was preparing to throw the stick again. The arrow soared over the group, and Peter spun, knocking the arrow out of the air with the stick he was holding; inches from his own face.

"How'd he do that?!" Cooper shouted, standing up.

"Cooper, you know how Captain America is like, super strong?" Tony asked, and the kid looked at him, nodding furiously.

"Yeah, he's like the strongest guy ever." Cooper said, and Steve rolled his eyes at the conversation.

"You wanna see a cool trick?" Tony asked, and grinned at Cooper's excited face. "Well Cap?"

"Tony, I don't think this is gonna help."

"It's not to help; it's to entertain! Now throw your shield at my intern before I make you bunk with Bucky." Steve rolled his eyes as he lifted his shield.

"Would they mind too much?!" Peter shouted, as he fired a web and grabbed the shield, pulling it from Steve's hands and catching it.

"Whaaaat!" Cooper was jumping, staring at Peter with huge eyes. " _How can he do that?!"_

The group watched as Peter turned away, and held the shield in his hands; he pulled back, and threw the shield. It curved upwards into the air, then struck a tree trunk; it splintered the wood, until it stopped halfway into the wood, and stayed.

"Woooow, that's really high up." Cooper said, and Steve grimaced. Peter walked up to them, and grinned at Cooper as he walked past. Cooper decided to follow Peter, shouting about how cool the teen boy was.

The afternoon was hot, and they all decided to go swimming; except for Peter, who was laying across a branch over the water. The breeze was cool, and the sounds of everyone in the water beneath him was enough to help him relax. What didn't help, was the sound of the branch he was on cracking. Peter scrambled as he fell, firing a web at the tree; it caught a piece of bark, which was ripped away by Peter's weight, and he fell.

Peter didn't enjoy swimming much, especially when he hadn't planned on it. The cold water enveloped his body, and he felt his body sinking. The water sucked all the air out of his lungs; it felt too much like the dust from when the building collapsed, and the pressure above him from the water didn't help much either. It came back in flashes; the explosion, the noise as the building gave way above him, and the pain as the building crushed his body, leaving him trapped. The others were heading back up to the house when they heard the cracking of the branch, and they turned to see Peter disappear under the water; they didn't see him coming back up.

" _Shit."_ Clint hissed out; he was the first to move, with Steve and Bucky behind him.

"No water for you metal man; no triggers today!" Clint shouted, and threw himself into the water, swimming out to where they saw Peter disappear. He took a breath, and pushed his body down under the surface of the water. He was able to hear some movement in the water below, which quickly became less frantic as he swam towards it; he felt Peter's arm, and latched on. It was difficult pulling the teen as Clint's own air supply was diminishing; he was near the surface when he felt a hand grab his arm before pulling both of them to the surface. Clint sucked in a lungful of air, and saw Steve beside him; Steve pulled Peter from Clint's arms, and the two of them swam to the bank of the water. Peter was already coughing up water by the time they laid him down on his side. Tony had to walk away; the sounds of Peter choking on the water were too familiar.

"Clint, why the hell did you dive in?" Natasha was scolding him; Laura had taken the kids inside. Tony followed them; he would see if they had a TV here, maybe find something to keep his mind busy.

"I didn't really think about it! I just thought of him helping Coop…and...autopilot kicked in." Natasha seemed to understand, and waited with Clint and Bruce; Peter opened his eyes and looked around. He was inside now, on the floor in the lounge; hadn't he just been outside? Peter groaned, his side still ached from where he had been stabbed by the stick earlier, and now his forearm hurt. He moved his head just enough to see his forearm; a bruise had formed on the skin, and he had no idea what had caused it. He closed his eyes, and when he opened them again it was dark outside, he was on the couch now, with a soft blanket draped over his body. He pulled the blanket closer and looked at with blurry eyes; it was soft, and red, and- Peter opened his eyes a little wider, and sat up on the couch.

"Umm, who got me a Spiderman blanket?" He called out. He heard movement in the kitchen; chairs scraped back on tiles, and there was a bang as a chair fell to the floor, then a lady shouted Clint's name, then Clint was in the room with Peter.

"You're alive!" Clint was simply ecstatic; it reminded Peter of when Thor had realised that Peter did actually wear the shirt he made for the boy.

"Building, collapse; stronger than that, remember?" Peter said, trying to smile; it was weak, and it needed more energy than he had. He groaned as he forced his body to sit upright on the couch. "Also, what the hell happened to my arm?"

"That…err, could have been me, though I doubt it; I'm guessing it was Steve."

"Huh. Idunno if Mister Stark will be happy that Captain America is bruising his favourite intern." Peter mumbled, looking at the bruise.

"Okay, why did Steve just choke on his dinner, who whispered something rude?" Tony was asking from the kitchen; Peter grinned, and looked at Clint. "Stop laughing and tell me!"

Peter rolled his eyes and managed to get to his feet; Clint stood nearby, waiting for Peter to fall, but the teen's legs held firm, if a little wobbly, and Peter walked over to Clint; he had picked up the Spiderman blanket and wrapped it around his shoulders as a cape. Clint raised an eyebrow but smirked, and the two walked into the kitchen. Steve got up as Peter walked in and waved at his seat as he carried his plate to the sink; Steve had been sitting next to Tony. Peter looked, and saw that there was also a seat empty next to Clint's son; Peter sat there.

"Ah Peter! You're okay!" Laura said, coming back into the kitchen after feeding Lucky. She smiled warmly at Peter, then shook her head when she saw the blanket cape. She stepped around Steve and sat back at the table; Steve set a plate of food in front of Peter, and was relieved when the boy smiled, even if it was a weak one.

"So, Steve; why you bruising me up?" Peter asked before beginning to eat.

"Err, little over-zealous pulling you out of the water I suppose. Definitely not on purpose." Steve was sheepish; he really had only been helping, he had noticed the bruise when they were moving him to the lounge.

"Oh well, that's probably the best reason for being bruised, I suppose." Peter said, and began to eat his meal.

"Definitely not, there's far better reasons." Bucky said, smirking.

"Oh really Bucky, do tell." Peter said, moving his eyes to Bucky; Bucky could tell that Peter was grinning even while he ate, his shines were shining.

"Not dining table talk kid, maybe later." Bucky said, ignoring the shocked looked from Steve and Tony. Peter would be the death of them yet.

 _ **Thank you to everyone who has been reading, following and favouriting this story! I've had chapters 25-29 written for awhile, they just needed editing and I have had negative time to do so!**_

 _ **Any ideas for future chapters, or characters you'd like to see, please feel free to leave as a comment! Ideas and reviews are super appreciated!**_


	26. Chapter 26 - Tool Shopping

**Chapter 26**

 **Tool Shopping; Not Quite Home Depot**

Peter's lungs were full of water. His eyes stung as he frantically tried to find the surface of the water, but he only found more of the cold, dark water. Something reached out from the dark and grabbed his wrist; he shouted, but all that came out were air bubbles. He pulled against whatever was holding onto him and fought back; he finally struck forward, and made contact; the shout was human. Peter's eyes shot open and he sucked in lungfuls of air; it felt so heavy in his chest, so satisfying. The room was still dark; he had fallen asleep on the couch again, the Spiderman blanket covering him. He blinked and once his eyes adjusted to the dark, he saw Steve standing over him, rubbing his jaw.

"I'm impressed and worried that that was only a weak punch." Steve said, chuckling at Peter's horrified facial expression.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean t-"

"Well, you did mean to, just not me I'm guessing."

"Er, yeah, I guess. What are you doing up?"

Peter sat up on the couch, and saw that the sun was starting to come up; there was a glow of light at the edges of the windows.

"Morning run with Bucky, heard you mumbling so came to check."

"Oh, uh, thanks." Peter didn't meet Steve's gaze; the man just smiled and shrugged.

"Feel free to join us if you want." Steve offered and Peter heard him leave with Bucky. Peter sat on the couch until the light outside was a little stronger, then he changed and headed outside. He could smell the lake when the breeze carried the smell to him, wrapping him in cool air. He could hear Steve and Bucky shouting down the path that followed around the lake; Peter took off at a jog, then broke into a run when he had warmed up enough. He ducked below Steve's arm and darted between them, overtaking the two men who were running at a slower pace. Bucky laughed and took off, easily catching up to Peter. They fell into the same pace, one taking the lead for a few seconds before the other would take the spot.

"It's not a race!" Steve called out after them.

"It would be if there was an even skill level!" Peter shouted back and pushed, he sped up and overtook Bucky. Peter moved himself in front of Bucky, making it difficult for the other man to move in front of him.

"Can't be a race if no one's running!" Bucky shouted, and lunged; he managed to catch Peter's leg as the boy dodged, and both of them crashed into the dirt pathway. Steve caught up to them laying in the ground; both ready to cry from laughter, both covered in dirt.

"Winter Soldier, known assassin, tackles neighbourhood hero." Steve said, shaking his head at the two but he was smiling; it was always good to hear Bucky laughing.

"Neighbourhood hero comments on metal arm; says it's awesome." Bucky said as he climbed to his feet and pulled Peter up by the boy's arm.

"I see nothing is forgotten with you guys." Peter grinned, and the three of them walked back to the house. Nobody was awake yet, and the trio returned to the quiet house and fell into their own easy silence. The rest of the day passed quickly; they had a BBQ for lunch, played in the lake while the afternoon sun was hot, and began to build a bonfire when it started to grow dark. Everyone had found their own seats, and had formed a circle around the bonfire where they fell into happy chatter; Clint's kids had sat either side of Peter, asking him all kinds of questions about what he could do.

"What kind of spider bit you? Did it hurt? Can you talk to spiders? Does bug spray hurt you? Was Captain America mad when you caught his shield? Are you friends with Captain America? That would be cool because he's like super strong, and super old and he was in the war and…"

Peter answered each question seriously, glowing at each question he got; it was oddly nice to be the centre of attention, for a little while. The child's attention was taken from Peter by a loud popping noise, then an explosion of colour in the night sky; fireworks.

"Oh another house must be doing fireworks." Laura said, leaning against Clint's shoulder and smiling. Peter felt something odd, while they sat and watched the fireworks; he was tingling but, not in a way to make him move urgently; there was no danger. He looked around and noticed how Steve was fiddling with the armrest of his camping chair, how he was slowly pulling the fabric apart with his fingers. Peter stood up from his chair and pulled his hoodie on, grabbing it from the back of his seat.

"Gonna go get more wood, come on Captain; you're helping." Peter called out as he walked away from the group.

"Playing the weak teenager card? Nu-uh!" Clint called back but Steve shot out from his chair and followed after Peter. Steve caught up to Peter, as the boy left the light provided by the bonfire. They walked, following a trail Peter seemed to be able to see, and found themselves in a small clearing in the trees behind the house. Peter sat down on a fallen tree with a single movement, and looked at Steve. The super soldier was shaking; Peter could see the man looking around, searching for something.

"Not a fan of fireworks?" Peter asked. Steve leant back against a tree trunk, supporting his body and sighing nervously.

"Not really; I've been able to avoid them in the tower. Friday can block out the noise if they're on nearby or weve happened to be on missions when they've been on. I've tried, so many times to deal with them but I just haven't managed to yet. Captain America, scared of fireworks." He muttered the last words to himself, clearly upset.

"You know, Spiderman's scared of water." Peter said, looking at the patch of sky visible in the clearing. "You know, don't tell him I told you."

"Course not." Steve said, eyeing the boy sitting on the log; he seemed very, very small at that moment, and Steve felt as if he was just as small himself.

"He was under a building, and it fell in and crushed him. He was pinned by this debris and it was really heavy; it was hard to breathe, from the pressure. That's what it's like being underwater; too much pressure. It's awful."

"How's he get past it then?"

"He doesn't." Peter said, and he felt himself choking on the words. Steve lowered himself until he was sitting in the dirt, leaning against the tree still.

"It's a little weird, talking to someone who reminds me of myself." Steve said, looking at Peter. The teen didn't meet his eyes. "Of course, I wasn't strong when I was your age. I was so sick, all the time, so weak; I'm still surprised I made it to the age I did with how badly my lungs worked."

"I've seen the movies about you, ya know." Peter said quietly to the ground.

"The movies don't talk about how sick I really was; how I was in bed for days, unable to eat, unable to move because of my body failing. After awhile, I sort of just stopped fighting it, it never seemed to help. I saw my mother one day, she had bruises on her legs and arms from moving crates at one of her jobs, earning money to get me food and medicine. I saw the bruises and I was so mad; at myself, because how could I let her be like that? Bruised, for trying to help me. So tired, hungry, even when she got sick herself, she'd be at work to get me better. Eventually the illness or the exhaustion would pass, and I'd be better for a few months, before it repeated."

"Your Mum sounds nice."

"She was." Steve said, and smiled at Peter.

"Fireworks have stopped." Peter said, looking up at Steve without moving his head.

"Oh? When did that happen?" Steve asked, looking at the dark sky.

"Few minutes ago." Peter said, smiling gently. "Ready to go back?"

Steve nodded, and the two made their way back to join the gathering around the bonfire. The two fell back into heir seats from earlier, and joined the conversation; nothing was mentioned regarding their earlier departure, even though they hadn't returned with any wood. Despite how nervous he still felt around Steve, Peter felt good about getting the man somewhere quiet. He didn't know it, but Steve was incredibly thankful; he had an idea that the man would appreciate what he did, but not quite how deeply thankful the super soldier was. Peter enjoyed the night with everyone and eventually found himself heading inside to get ready for bed.

"Only one bed left kiddo, sorry." Clint said, smiling at Peter; it was almost apologetic.

"Ooh lucky thing! Snuggled in safely with two super soldiers." Tony said, smiling at Peter. "I reckon they'd be like space heaters, keep you nice and warm."

"Oh thank god, sleeping with clothes on the last few days has been a nightmare; least I won't freeze tonight." Peter said, and made his way upstairs, leaving Tony to splutter in the hallway. Peter lost his bravado as he made his way down the upstairs hall, and found the door that Bucky's voice was coming from.

"Bucky, he did not say that." Steve said from the other side of the door.

"He did! I heard it when I was coming upstairs!"

"If he did, Tony would've been up here kicking both of us out of the house."

"He's way too scared of Clint's wife to do that. He'll just threaten us quietly not to corrupt his boy."

"Us?! Why would I be corrupting?"

"….You did walk off into the woods at night, with a sixteen year old."

Peter knocked before Steve could respond. He waited before slowly opening the door, and saw the two men sitting on their beds, facing each other.

"This is ridiculous." Peter said, seeing that both men were wearing matching clothes; Spiderman pyjamas. "I'm sleeping on the couch."

"Nope!" Steve and Bucky both said, then moved; they moved quickly, and managed to prevent Peter from flipping away, before dropping him onto the spare bed.

"There, now you're in bed!" Bucky said, obviously pleased.

"He had better be in a bed, on his own, with clothes on! Or I will put you both back in the ice!" Tony shouted from downstairs; Bucky smirked and closed the bedroom door.

"Worst slumber party ever." Peter mumbled, and rolled himself onto his back.

"It's my only slumber party ever so, top scores from me." Bucky said, as he and Steve climbed back onto their own beds, on either side of Peter's. The three of them didn't chat; Steve drew, Bucky read and Peter laid on the bed, he would get up and change before he fell asleep, he was just so comfortable right now.

Peter woke at midnight, his entire body aching; his skin was buzzing angrily. In an instant, Peter was out of the room; the door closing woke Steve and Bucky. Steve and Bucky could hear his footsteps as he raced down the main staircase, then they heard shouting; they followed. Peter was outside of the house, staring off into the distance; there was an orange glow, and a climbing column of smoke in the distance.

"There's a lodge." Peter whispered, the two men looked at them.

"How many people?" Steve asked.

"Must be a few hundred, it's like a hotel…" Peter didn't look at Steve; his eyes were on the orange blob on the horizon.

"Wake them up." Peter said, and the two men raced inside. Peter quickly found his suit which he stuffed in a bag underneath the deck of the house, quickly changed in the dark, and ran towards the orange blob. The air near the building was already incredibly hot. The fire was located on one side of the large building but was quickly spreading along the wooden structure; Peter quickly moved, he swung over to the crowd of people that had gathered outside the building and landed on the front deck. Peter stepped through the front door and winced at the sheer heat that came off of the fire. He checked the rooms downstairs and found no one, so he headed up stairs, and began to search.

"Kid, I'm only seeing one life sign still inside the building, very top floor, looks like it's an open floor." Tony came over the comms, and Peter followed the directions. He came onto the top floor of the building, and saw a man in a suit standing by a window, looking out at the lake. Peter stood still, his body ready for a fight.

"Such a beautiful place, this." The man said, his accent thick; the man was middle aged, and german.

"When it's not on fire, I suppose." Peter replied, still not moving.

"Ah you sound so _young;_ what has the Captain done to you then?"

"Nothing as far as I know, though there were concerns about us sharing a room earlier."

"He is a good leader, yes? He was, and still is, a good fighter; a true fighter. What it would have been like to have him in our family."

Peter's breath caught in his throat; _family?_

"We had his friend, but the asset has been…taken, sadly. Such a waste, such a useful tool; shame it had to be muzzled like a dog." The man slowly turned to face Peter. It hurt Peter that he looked so friendly, like someone's father. "Nevertheless, we have found a new tool. Something that would be much easier to teach, to train; you will succumb _far_ quicker than your friend did."

"How long did it take him?" Peter asked, still unmoving, despite the voices in his suit telling him to run. He couldn't make his legs move, the man just looked so familiar; it made Peter's chest ache.

"You will be given a new life; new strength, new abilities. You will be so much better than now; fighting for a true cause. You will be improved! You stand with us behind you; Captain America himself will fall at your feet, his blood will be on your hands."

"Why the fire?"

"Our…tool, was never fond of fire; though we could never figure out why." The man's grin told Peter that he probably had a very good idea why, as did Bucky's cursing over the comms. "It was an attempt to…draw him out, though his lack of appearance tells me it was not successful, no matter, there are always future attempts; there will always future attempts. You will fight side by side for us, or against one another; with your improvement, you will surely be the victor." The man said, and Peter moved; he had hoped to grab the man, as he had begun to step back but he dropped, and his body shook. Peter saw the foam at the mans lips, and felt how rigid his body became with the convulsions. He couldn't feel the heat anymore; Peter's entire body had gone cold, as he knelt down and held the still man.

"Kid?! Spider-kid?!" Clint was shouting suddenly, in his ears.

"' 'M here." Peter said numbly, he couldn't move.

"We lost contact, you just went silent. Where are you? What's happening?" Tony asked, cutting Clint off.

"In the building."

"What?!" Tony shouted, and Peter felt the wood underneath him sag, as the fire ate away at it. "Kid you need to move!"

"Kay." Peter stood, lifting the man in his arms. He looked at the window the man had been staring out of, and ran; he leapt from the window, holding the man in his arms, and came down to the ground; his feet landed neatly on the grass, as the top of the building collapsed inwards with a deafening groan. Sparks flew up from the flames as the wood settled, and Peter lowered the man onto the ground. The man didn't move, and Peter wasn't sure why he expected otherwise.

"Eyes on him, moving in." Bucky said, and moments later he was approaching Peter; gun drawn, eyes sharp on the teen. "Kid?"

"I wouldn't be very good at being HYDRA." Peter said, he could feel the anger rising in his throat as he spoke. "I'm not very good with dead people."

Bucky lowered his gun, seeing the man on the floor, and he cursed. He didn't often curse in german but then again, it wasn't often a situation needed it; this was one of those situations. Peter was still, eyes on the man; he took a deep breath and turned away, walking away from the body. Bucky looked at the man, and spat on the ground beside the body before following after Peter. The teen wasn't walking very quickly but Bucky didn't quite catch up to him, he followed but kept himself a few steps away. They made it to the house; Bucky joined the others in the kitchen, while Peter went back upstairs.

"I shouldn't follow, should I?" Tony asked himself, the others just happened to hear it.

"No, Tony." Steve said softly, making room for Tony at the table. They had all gathered around the table once emergency services arrived, and Tony had made arrangements for all the guests to be relocated to other places to stay, covered by Stark Industries of course. Laura had coffee and tea waiting for them once they arrived, and didn't say anything as she sat them all down with their drink, before leaving the kitchen and returning to bed. They sat in silence, drinking without tasting the liquid in their cups.

"They still haven't figured Peter out?" Bruce asked, and everyone looked at him; grateful they didn't have to break the silence.

"Seems not." Tony said, and put his cup down. "They just know he works with two people HYDRA has bad history with; he'd be perfect for the new asset." He said it bitterly. They sat in silence again, and Steve left the table. Tony followed him, walking after the man as he climbed the main staircase.

"Steve?" Tony asked, looking up at his friend.

"Tony? I wasn't checking on him, that's your place; I'm no-"

"I want you to."

"Errr, why?"

"Because it isn't something I've dealt with, the HYDRA…thing. I just, don't know how I'd even help." Tony admitted, frowning at Steve. Steve nodded, and headed up the stairs, making his way to the bedroom.


	27. Chapter 27 - A Day Out At The Shops

**Chapter 27**

 **A Day Out At The Shops**

 _ **Alternative Title: Halp**_

 _Some people watch, some people pray, but even lights can fade away…_

Peter was laying on his bed, flat on his stomach with his face buried in the pillow. Steve closed the door behind him, and winced when he saw Peter flinch in the bed; he pulled his body into a ball, tucking his face down into his chest. Steve hovered at the end of the bed, before sitting down gently on the mattress; Peter's eyes were red, and his cheeks were wet.

"Hey kid, how you doing?" Steve asked; he kept his voice low, he didn't want to scare the kid even more. "Tony wanted me to check on you, you don't have to talk. I'll go back downstairs shortly and tell him you're fine, and he can stop worrying." Steve heard the boy sniffle, but didn't say anything about it. Steve sat on the end of the bed, and watched Peter; the boy sniffled every now and then, but didn't move, apart from the heaving of his chest.

"It's weird seeing you so curled up, you're normally taking up an entire couch on your own." Steve said, and was glad to see Peter smile, even if was only for a brief moment. "So, come on, stretch out." Steve said, and stood up. He took a few steps down the bed, and leant down to gab peter's legs gently, and shifted them so that they were more straight, less tucked into the teen's chest. "This would be the perfect moment for Tony to walk in." Steve muttered to himself, and he heard Peter laugh softly.

"I don't know why he's so weird about you and Bucky." Peter said softly, not very happy about Steve moving him but not caring enough to fight it.

 _'Cause even heroes, get the blues, or any misery you choose…_

"Because he thinks we're both lonely old men; I suppose he isn't totally wrong."

"About being lonely or old?" Peter asked, and slowly stretched himself out over the bed. Steve stepped back and sat on his own bed, leaning back against the wall.

"Both, I suppose." Steve said, laughing. "Apparently he had some realisation recently that I'm technically still in my twenties."

"Yeah, my bad; oops." Peter was smiling; it was weak, and sheepish, but he was smiling.

"I hadn't really thought about it myself; it just feels weird to say I'm in my twenties. I certainly don't feel it."

"I certainly feel don't like I'm sixteen; it's not bad, but it is difficult being a teenager in high school with…everything else that keeps happening; mostly when people keep trying to blow my boss up."

"You're remarkably calm, for someone who keeps nearly dying."

 _You like to watch, We like to use , And we were born to lose…_

"I figure death wishes are par the course for superheroes."

"They are; suicide wishes are different though." Steve said, keeping his eyes on Peter's.

"I'm not _trying_ to get myself killed, it just seems to happen. There is a _tiny_ bit of me wanting to know my limits. Also, I really enjoy flipping around in fights."

"So I've noticed." Steve said, and got up from his bed. "I'll tell Tony you just want to sleep, he'll probably come bother you later but hopefully he'll give you a little peace and quiet." Steve told Peter, and watched as the boy curled up again, brining a blanket over his body as he did.

"He doesn't have to." Peter said softly, and Steve left the room. He closed the door, and turned to see Tony standing there; Steve jumped, just a little, and held a hand to his chest.

"Tony, don't do that. You know how delicate I am." Steve said, clutching his chest tightly.

"So sorry, apple pie, I'll be mindful of your scientifically enhanced heart in future; is he okay?"

"He's…okay isn't really the best way to describe it; he'll _be_ okay, but right now I think he's…a little messed up. He seemed to enjoy his run with us this morning, so he's welcome to join us back home."

Tony looked at Steve, puzzled, as his friend walked down the hallway.

"Are you gonna tell him or…"

"I'm guessing he's probably listening to us talk now so, he'll get the invite." Steve said, grinning, and went down to the kitchen. Tony frowned, and knocked gently on the door; he didn't wait for an answer, he just opened the door. Peter was in bed, under a blanket; Tony could see that the boy was curled into a ball, face wet, eyes red. Tony walked over slowly and sat near Peter, resting a hand on the boy's leg; unaware that Steve had made him lay on the bed properly earlier.

"The invite was nice of him." Peter whispered.

"You've gone from being petrified of them, to being their favourite person; it's very confusing, and almost worrying how badly they want to impress you."

"It can't be that hard to impress someone as Captain America." Peter said, raising an eyebrow, smirking into the pillow.

"Most people he's trying to impress aren't almost as strong as him?"

" _Almost?"_ Peter asked, looking at Tony; Tony knew that voice. That was Peter's voice of 'I'll prove you wrong'.

"I've made a huge mistake." Tony said, and ran from the room.

 _I choose defeat , I walk away, And leave this place, The same today…_

The next morning, while they were packing the cars to head home, Tony kept glancing at Peter; the teen wasn't doing anything, but he couldn't be trusted. Tony knew Peter would do something, at any second, to prove him wrong; it never came. They drove back without incident, and unpacked their belongings without issue, then they were all back into their usual routines; the only real signs of their short holiday were Clint and Tony's light tans.

"Bruuuuce" Tony called out, finally finding Bruce in the viewing room above the training room. "I've been looking for you everywhere."

"You tried my room, the lab, then here. I'd hardly call that everywhere."

"Everywhere I would expect you to be! What are you doing anyway?" Tony asked, standing next to Bruce and looking through the large glass window, where he saw Peter standing in the training room. Peter waved up the two men, grinning. He was wearing shorts, and a loose v-neck; just a plain black one.

"I went on the lake trip, so I'm collecting my rewards." Bruce said, and waved back to Peter.

"What are your rewards?" Tony asked, eyes on Peter; the door to the training room slid open, and Tony saw as Bucky and Steve walked in.

"Data." Bruce said, smiling at Tony; the scientist reminded Tony of a child who had been promised ice-cream, and had actually gotten it. Tony noticed that Steve looked confused about being in the room, while Bucky didn't seem surprised at all.

"I take it you only asked one of them?" Tony asked, both of them watching through the window.

"You think Steve would've agreed?" Bruce asked, as if Tony was an idiot for even thinking it. "Even if he normally would have, he wouldn't have after the way Peter's been going on about being _almost_ as strong as him today."

Tony didn't look at Bruce; he didn't need to see the smug look on the other man's face.

Peter and Bucky had begun some basic sparring; they weren't moving to their full ability, which annoyed Bruce and Tony. Bucky threw a punch at Peter, who grabbed his metal hand easily; then tightened his grip. Bucky yelped as Peter pulled the man off his feet, and used the metal arm to swing and throw Bucky into Steve; Bucky's body caught Steve and threw the man to the ground.

"Hey kid?" Tony said, holding the button for the intercom down. "Try not to pull the arm off. It was actually really expensive." Bucky and Steve got to their feet; Steve was looking at Peter with wide eyes, and Bucky was glaring at the teen. Bucky charged forward, and fell into another spar with Peter; this time they were moving quickly, avoiding each other's hits while throwing their own. Tony noticed that there were small black circles stuck to Peter's arms and legs, plus some on his hands and bare feet.

"Did you stick sensors to the kid?" Tony asked Bruce, who nodded.

"I said we could just have him go at the robots, they have the sensors built in, this whole thing was his idea."

"I made a mistake." Tony whispered to himself staring at Bucky and Peter. Bucky threw a punch, which Peter easily jumped away from; he flew up and pushed down on Bucky's shoulders with his palms, before flipping off and landing behind Bucky. He swiped with his foot, and caught Bucky's leg; Bucky fell, but grabbed Peter's arm as he did, and pulled the teen down with him. Bucky rolled so that Peter was underneath him, and he threw a punch.

 _Some like to sleep, We like to play, Just look at all that pain…_

"Friday!" Peter shouted, before Bucky's metal fist collided with his jaw.

"Previous orders have been followed Mister Parker." Friday's voice came over the room, and the viewing gallery. Tony watched in horror as Bucky threw another two punches with the metal fist, each one striking Peter in the jaw or chest; blood came from the split in Peter's lip.

"Bucky!" Steve shouted, and Peter moved. He pulled a leg up tight to his body, squeezing it through the gap between his body and Bucky's, and kicked outwards; Bucky flew back, and landed on the ground with a loud thud. He pulled something out of a pocket on his pant's leg, and flicked the small metal rod. It extended out from either end, and they could see the small arcs of blue electricity that jumped from either end of the rod. Bucky charged towards peter, rod raised in his metal arm; Peter shot out a web and easily caught the rod, and pulled it from Bucky's grip. Peter guided the rod with his web, before released it, letting it fly towards Steve; the super soldier quickly pulled his shield from his back and knocked the metal rod to the side.

"Tony, Friday's locked us out." Bruce said, and Tony saw that the man was right; on the screen near the window Tony could see that Friday had enacted lockdown on the training room. The two men stood as close to the window as they could, hands pressing against the glass as they watched Peter run at the Captain, and jump forward; his feet landed firmly on the shield and he threw himself up to the ceiling. Peter quickly crawled along the roof to a wall, where he hung for a brief second, and threw himself from it; he had aimed at Steve, and struck right where he had aimed. Steve held his shield up to brace against Peter's hit, and the teen's fist collided with the shield. Steve staggered back, then struck out with the Shield; Peter easily grabbed the shield and threw it behind him, nearly catching Bucky with it. After sparring for a few moments, Steve rolled his eyes and ducked under Peter's throw, grabbed the teen's arm and threw him at Bucky. Bucky ducked under the teen, who landed on his palms and threw himself into a flip before landing on his own two feet.

"That was fun! Cool, thanks guys. Friday!" Peter said, running a hand through his hand; he was breathing heavily, but was smiling. Bruce and Tony ran into the room moments later; Bruce began to pull the sensors off of Peter, while Tony stared in horror, and simple astonishment at the three who had been fighting moments earlier.

"In my defense, I think I was tricked into being here." Steve said, breathing as heavily as Peter.

"It totally worked too." Peter said, grinning.

"You're all mad! Especially you two!" Tony said, waving his hands at Bucky and Peter.

"In _my_ defense, it was his idea." Bucky said, pointing at Peter.

"I promised Bruce I'd do tests!"

"How did he even convince you to do it?" Tony asked Bucky, who shrugged.

"He knows where to get good lego." Bucky said, and left the room, dragging Steve behind him.

"Mister Stark? Hellooo?" Peter called out, waving his hand in front of Tony's face. Bruce had left the room to go over data in the lab, leaving Tony and Peter on their own. Tony blinked, and looked at Peter; the teen was smiling at Tony, his face a bloodied mess. "Come on Mister Stark, let's go get something to eat." Peter said, and pulling Tony along by his jacket sleeve. Steve was already in the kitchen when Peter and Tony entered; The super soldier smiled at the two, while Clint stared from the couch.

"The hell happened to you?" Clint asked from his seat as Tony and Peter sat at the dining table.

"Bucky." Peter said, and smiled as Steve set a coffee in front of Tony.

"That shouldn't be such a good explanation." Steve said, and laughed at the look on Tony's face. "S'wrong Tony?"

"I mean aside from what I just witnessed, how the hell did Bucky get convinced to help?" Tony asked, looking from Steve to Peter. Tony hadn't even noticed Peter leave the table; he was in the kitchen making a cup of instant noodles; Tony knew he shouldn't have bought them, but the kid seemed to like them, a lot.

"He wasn't keen on it, but from what I know, Peter promised to go to the shops with Bucky."

"You know if HYDRA wanted him back, they'd just need to get some really good lego." Peter said without looking at the wo men, despite Steve standing only a few feet from him in the kitchen.

"I'm not that easily swayed by plastic bricks, kid." Bucky said, coming into the kitchen. "Time to go, hurry up."

"But my noodles!"

"Alright, we'll go during the week; I'll pick you up from school." Bucky said with a smirk, before leaving the kitchen, and a terror stricken Peter.

"Ooh he can take you and Steve! What a fun day out." Tony said, grinning. Peter and Steve glanced at each other; both looked terrified. "So, you convinced Banner into a holiday with _data?"_

"Yep! Now I gotta think of another reason for you guys to keep me around." Peter said, clapping Tony on the shoulder as walked past to sit on a couch in the lounge. Peter regretted the words as soon as he said them, and sat on the couch without another word; keeping his eyes focused on the screen of the TV as a movie began. Tony and Steve moved around the kitchen, making coffees and food, before heading off to their own areas in the Tower. He tried not to dwell on what he'd said; it had meant to sound far more sarcastic, and not as pathetic as it had come out. He tried to ignore the thought, and squashed it to the back of his mind; he enjoyed his time at the Tower, and even joined the others for dinner. No one mentioned what he had said.

It was Tuesday afternoon, when Peter heard shouts in the hallway, then something crashing into lockers in the hall; he heard the noise as he turned a corner, and saw Bucky laughing at Steve, who was leaning back against a wall of lockers.

"Aww Rogers, I've got a robot arm, we can get you a robot leg; you won't have two left feet that way." Bucky teased Steve, as the other man pushed himself to his feet and rolled his eyes.

"Is that Captain America? Is he wearing _jeans?"_ A voice came from Peter behind, and he groaned quietly; of course it was Flash.

"What else would he be wearing?" Bucky asked, obviously having heard the comment. He turned to see who had said it, and grinned when he saw Peter; the grin reminded Peter of a shark.

"Peter!" Bucky said, and smiled as Ned came into view as well. "Ned!"

"Who's the other guy?" Flash muttered, elbowing Peter in the side. _Oh._ Peter only just noticed that Bucky was wearing a long sleeved hoodie, and his long hair was tied back into a loose bun under a baseball cap; surely Flash would be able to recognise him though? "Captain's boyfriend?" Flash muttered with a snicker.

"God he wishes." Bucky said, glancing at Steve with a smirk; both had heard the comment. 'Anyway, hurry up Peter we're going to the shops."

"I'm sorry but, why do you need me if you have Steve? Who's chaperoning who?" Peter asked, and moved away from Flash; Peter and Ned moved over to the two super soldiers, and walked to the front of the school with them. Steve and Bucky were bickering behind Peter and Ned, as they come to the front of the school entrance; two bikes were parked in the pick up zone.

Peter saw a woman across the road, waving her arm above her head; he pointed to himself, then ran over the road to her.

"Hi Mrs South, what's wrong?" Peter asked, when he reached the woman; it was the lady Bucky had been looking at weeks earlier.

"Oh Peter, sorry for being a bother. I need to change the tyre of my car but I can't get the wheel loose, it'll be an hour til the roadside people can get here. Would you be able to help at all?"

 _Of course I can._ He wanted to say, but he grimaced and said "Sorry, I don't know if I'd be much he- Oh! Hang on!" Peter said, remembering who was picking him up from school. He waved at Bucky and Steve, who came over with obviously worried, and confused looks on their faces. It didn't take long for Steve and Bucky to change the tyre over, and they left the blonde woman smiling as the three of them went back over to the bikes; Peter said goodbye to Ned, and soon they were parking outside of a mall nearby.

"Daily civilian assistance, done." Peter said with a pleased smile as they walked into the huge shopping centre; and his eyes glanced to Bucky.

"Clothes, and lego." Bucky said, trying to ease his breathing. The shopping itself, was easy; Bucky obviously knew what he wanted, it was getting through the crowd that proved most difficult. People obviously knew Steve, and were curious why he was there with Bucky and Peter; nobody seemed to know Peter, and a couple seemed like they recognised Bucky but couldn't figure out why. Eventually, they were sitting in the food court. Bucky and Steve had their own food already, and Peter was walking over when he recognised the girl sitting nearby, facing away from them. She glanced up as Peter walked past, and smiled. _Toy shop girl._ Peter thought to himself, they smiled at each other but didn't speak, and Peter sat at the table with Steve and Bucky. They ate around chatter, and a little while later a young man came up to their table; they smiled, expecting someone to ask about Steve.

"O-oh sorry, is Mister Stark not with you?" The man asked, his body trembling with nerves.

"No, sorry he's at work; you a fan?" Steve asked, leaning back in his seat.

"His biggest; just makes this a little less worth while; oh well. He needs to know some people believe he was right." The man said, his body becoming rigid, and his arm moved. Peter's body tingled and he moved forward as the man pulled the pistol from inside his jacket; Peter managed to grab it, but the man had fired twice before Peter's hands met the weapon. Both bullets found Bucky; both of them entered into the man's chest, and Bucky groaned at the sudden pain. The crowd burst into screams around them, as people scrambled to get away from the gunman; Peter wrestled with the man and ripped the weapon from his hands, the man's fist met Peter's jaw and knocked the boy to the ground, and he moved to get his gun back from the floor. Peter kicked out and sent the gun across the food court, and jumped back to his feet. Peter heard a scream, and that the toy shop girl had moved over to Bucky, and was kneeling over him on the floor.

"Move away from him, Miss." The gunman was saying, walking over to them.

"He's hurt! I-I'm a nurse, I can hel-"

"Why would you help him?!" The man shouted, and kicked at Bucky. His foot managed to find the bullet holes, and Bucky hissed in pain. Peter heard the sound of the disc flying before he saw the shield; he ducked as the shield flew above him from behind, and caught the man in the back, sending him to the ground.

"Move them!" He heard Steve shout. Peter nodded and quickly moved over to them.

"Come on, Buck." Peter said, as he helped the man up to his feet. Bucky swayed for a few seconds before he seemed to regain his footing. "You follow us…sorry, I only know you as toy shop girl." Peter glanced at her, and began to walk. Bucky wasn't very happy, Peter knew, but he let the teen lead him around a corner. Peter lowered Bucky onto a wooden bench and looked around the corner; the man was back on his feet, and had found his weapon again. Peter quickly pulled his hoodie and shirt off, and pulled the hoodie back on before the girl could see the suit underneath; she was busy hovering near Bucky. Peter gave her the shirt, pushing it into her hands, and told her to put it on over her own shirt.

"Wha-"

"Prototype; it's not ideal but it's better than you getting shot." Peter said, and shot a look at Bucky. "Stay here. I'll get Banner to find you two, I'll check no one else got hit." Peter said, and ducked back around the corner. He found the shield on the ground near him and threw it, and made sure that Steve caught it before he ducked into another hallway, he pulled his outside clothes off and stretched his fingers as the gloves covered them, then unclipped his mask from the side of the suit and pulled it over his face; he took a breath before running out into the food court again.

"Captain Rogers has noticed a remote-type device in the man's hand, he does not wish to move closer in case the man is holding a detonator." Peter nodded at Karen's words, and heard the sounds of sirens in the distance. "Mister Stark has received news of the incident, and has instructed Friday to remove all traces of yourself from the camera feed in the building."

Peter sighed, relieved, and began to move. He ran forward, at the man's back, and jumped onto a table; the threw himself off the table, flipping over the man. He was able to web the remote and pull it from the man's hands, before Steve rushed forward, shield blocking any shots, and came upon the man. The man gave a punch, but fell back as his movement threw him off balance and he landed on the ground as the doors to the buildings burst open. A dozen or so officers came in, weapons drawn; it didn't take long before the man was in custody and on his way to the station. Peter was able to get himself out of the food court before he was questioned, and get back to the girl and Bucky in his civilian clothes. Bruce was already there, and the girl had been questioned briefly before being given a lift home.

Peter sat down on the bench next to Bucky and sighed. "I can't go anywhere with you two." He muttered, and didn't appreciate how Bucky laughed.


	28. Chapter 28 - Unwelcome Guest

**Chapter 28**

 **Unwelcome Guest**

"No, I don't want to speak to him." Tony said, climbing out of his car inside the garage at the Tower. He was holding his phone to his ear, and frowning. "You can send me recordings, that's fine; yes, they're all fine. Okay, thank you, bye. Bye!" He hung up and stalked into the elevator, riding it to the penthouse. Tony wanted a drink; he wanted lots of drinks, then to roll into his bed and pass out so he could forget today and to ignore tomorrow. He'd spent the past few hours on the phone to various people; the police, his lawyer, the security company from the mall, the hospital and a very nice old man, who turned out to be the father of a young girl called Brittany. Apparently Brittany was the girl who worked at the toy store the man owned, and had been the one to help Bucky with lego; she was a student nurse. Tony immediately made calls and arranged for her schooling to be paid for anonymously, perhaps it was a little much but he thought it was the right thing to do. Tony stepped out into the penthouse and saw Steve laying out on the couch, a silver flask on the coffee table nearby.

"Thor bring you something to drink?" Tony asked, throwing his jacket on the kitchen counter and walking over to Steve. He leant over the back of the couch and watched the super solider nod.

"He's a great guy, really the best, how is someone so nice?" Steve mumbled, and opened his eyes to look at Tony. "You know that shirt Thor and Loki made for Peter? Bucky said Peter gave it to the toy shop girl; that's what he keeps calling her, we don't know her name so they kind of just…named her."

"Her name's Brittany, her dad called me earlier." Tony said and sat on an armchair across from Steve.

"Nooo, no, no no, they said she was oka-" Steve was rubbing his face with his hands.

"She's fine, she got dropped off at the store and the Dad freaked out when a cop walked her inside."

"She didn't even wear it, he said it was a stark prototype and she didn't want him to get in trouble…Bucky kind of explained the internship. He said she was really nice about who he was, said she was a nurse but you know, a student nurse; and she still wanted to help. There's SHIELD nurses who wouldn't even do that. Half of SHIELD still expects Bucky to snap."

"I feel even better about paying for her college courses then; did the gunman talk to you at all?" Steve nodded and took a drink from the flask, before sitting up and looking at Tony.

"Yeah, I was trying to distract him. He was a huge fan of yours, like, obsessively so. Wasn't a big fan of me or Bucky; he wanted Bucky dead more than me, thought you and I would be friends again if the 'source of the friction' was removed." Steve saw the door to Tony's bedroom open, and Peter walked out holding a glass, pressed against a piece of cardboard. Peter left through the elevator, walking carefully, and Steve watched as the elevator shut and left the floor.

"There was a spider in my bathroom." Tony said, and Steve burst into laughter; it the kind of laughter where Steve clutched his chest with one hand, and kicked his feet against the floor. Steve was still laughing when Peter came back, empty glass in hand, and raised an eyebrow at Steve. Steve patted the couch next to him, and smiled brightly at Peter; the teen shrugged and put the glass and piece of cardboard on the kitchen counter, and gently sat down next to Steve. Steve put an arm around Peter shoulders but kept looking at Tony, patting Peter's shoulder as if to say 'alright, good job.'

"So yeah, he wanted to get rid of…Bucky, so we could be friends again. I guess it makes sense, if you ignore everything that happened, and everything that almost happened. Also if you're insane."

"So he kind of knows who Bucky is, and _shot him with a normal gun?_ " Tony couldn't believe it. "Was he on something?"

"Oh probably, he was pretty brave for someone facing me down."

"What? A super solider? Someone's talking themselves up."

"I am not! I'm just stating what happened!"

"Don't have to hide it from me apple pie, I understand. I hardly blame the man for losing the ability to think in your presence."

"Uhh, this is nice and all, do I have to be here for you two to flirt?" Peter asked, looking oddly smaller than usual against Steve. Steve spluttered, and Tony glared at Peter, but smirked after a moment.

"Nope, you get to carry Mister Drunk here to bed." Tony said, standing up from the armchair.

"Why me?"

"Who else could? Me?"

"...Bucky?"

"Nooo, no Bucky." Steve moaned, leaning on Peter. "He's all upset, don't wanna bother..."

"Well it's you then! Get him home in one piece for me, champ." Tony said, clapping Peter on the shoulder before walking into his bedroom. The door shut, and Peter was left with Steve. Peter carefully stood up and looked down at Steve; the man was laying on the couch, staring up at Peter, smiling. It was a smile that wasn't quite all there; Peter remembered being told Steve's metabolism stopped him from getting drunk, it seemed like they had solved the problem.

"Ready for bed?" Peter asked, and leant down to help Steve get up. The soldier tried to roll away, but was far larger than the usual person who sat on the couch, so there wasn't much room for him. Peter rolled his eyes and grabbed Steve's shoulders and began the process of getting the man to his feet.

"Y're…good…kid.." Steve mumbled, as Peter slowly helped the man to the elevator. Peter let his grip slip just a little, and Steve tumbled to the side against the wall of the elevator; he slid to the floor, and looked up at Peter. "S'on purpose…" Steve mumbled, leaning his body against the elevator wall.

"No one can say you don't notice things." Peter smirked and looked down at the super solider as the elevator moved to the living floor. The elevator dinged as the doors slid open; Peter lifted Steve and helped the man out of the elevator. Peter grumbled as Steve tried to walk on his own, making the trip take longer than necessary, but he didn't feel like carrying the man. Finally, they made it into Steve's room; Peter dropped the man onto the bed, and shook his head. _What a weird night._ He thought to himself, as he turned to leave.

"You gave…shirt…" Steve said, almost a mumble. Peter hovered in the doorway; not knowing if he wanted to have this conversation. "…S'nice…" _Definitely not having this conversation._

"So…blood…so much" Steve was mumbling; his face pressed into the pillow, eyes closed. Peter sighed, and left the room, closing the door behind him. He quickly went to his own room, not wanting to risk running into anyone else who might want to chat, and fell into his own bed. The bed felt wrong; it was too warm, too scratchy, it felt like the blanket was suffocating him. Peter gave up and went to the couch in the lounge; the air was much cooler, the cushions felt a little softer, and there was a blanket on one of the arms. He realised, he wasn't really that tired; he still felt wired from what had happened that day. He couldn't fall asleep, closing his eyes just meant seeing Bucky with blood soaking through his shirt, the toy shop girl trying to help; he could see how furious the man had been.

Peter pulled the blanket over his body and settled into the couch to watch TV; he wasn't fussed what was on, he just needed something to focus on besides his own thoughts. It was a war documentary, which was just interesting enough that Peter was able to keep his attention on the show. His neck tingled during the movie, but not enough to make him concerned; he could feel movement behind him, close, behind the couch.

"Sneaking around isn't very nice." Peter mumbled, and felt someone's hands lean against the top of the couch.

"Either is giving away gifts someone made for you." The voice replied; Loki. Peter rolled onto his back and looked up at the man; he looked tired. _Can gods get tired?_

"It was important." Peter replied.

"Important enough to give away a gift made by literal _gods?"_ Loki asked, pushing for a truthful answer; he could take it, force the boy to answer but the other people in the tower would make his life very unpleasant if he did.

"Sure was." Peter said, rolling back onto his side to watch the documentary. "The suit was fun though."

"Yes, my brother told me of that; did you enjoy being bulletproof?" Loki walked over to the dining table; running his finger along the surface as he walked past it. Smooth and cold, like everything else in the tower; besides the people who lived in it.

"Loki, just you, or is Thor there as well?" Tony's voice came from the ceiling.

"Just me, Thor is busy, and sent me on his…errand." Loki couldn't hide his irritation; it greatly amused Peter. "Are you amused by something, child?" Loki asked, looking at Peter; the teen was peering over the back of the couch, eyes turned up in a smirk.

"Are you an errand boy?" Peter asked, and Loki was cut off by Tony.

"What errand? Why here? It's late."

"Yet you are awake." Loki pointed out. "Thor's errand; he asked me to come here to ask you, Stark, to come and assist with some…security matters, for the Asgardians."

"The Asgardians? Who are hiding…somewhere, in the middle of nowhere?"

"Norway, and yes, it is proving difficult to keep them hidden; a…man dressed as a cat has offered help with a shield to conceal them, but requires some assistance."

"I can be there in three days, I'll bring a few of the team to help as well, just in case. I'll need to arrange transport of the equipment with T'Challa – the cat guy – before we leave for your people but, it shouldn't be too much we need to discuss. I know the basics of his shield technology, he'll be wanting me for other security matters, and heavy lifting I imagine."

"Heavy lifting? Is he not enhanced himself?" Loki asked.

"They'll have a god, two super soldiers, the hulk – maybe - and Mister Stark in his suit if he takes it, lots of help." Peter said brightly.

"And you, kid." Tony said, and Peter grimaced. "I know you're making a face; stop it."

"Mister Sta-" Peter tried, climbing off the couch, then seeing Loki. The god was smirking at him. "What?"

"You live here, with these…heroes, and you don't want to meet people, from _another world?"_

"No! It sounds exhausting. Also Norway is cold, I hate being cold an- oh the cold! Mister Stark what abou- _oh_." Peter said, realising just why he was needed.

"Welcome to the team, handler!" Tony said brightly, then turned off his intercom, and went to bed.

"Handler?" Loki asked, an eyebrow raised.

"Long story."

"Try and apply it to the hulk; long story." Loki said, and with a green glow, vanished from the room.

"Well I'm definitely _not_ doing that." Peter said, and laid back down with a huff.

The next morning was busy; everyone had things to do, places to be, including Peter.

"Heard you got shot at, Parker." Flash said, walking over to Ned and Peter at lunch. "Shame they missed."

"I know the feeling Flash; it would've saved me from this stupid Stark Industries trip I have to go on." Peter moaned, and Ned nodded.

"Where? He finally gonna just leave you somewhere?"

"Hope not; Norway's cold."

"Norway? Yeah alright."

"Why you going there, Peter?" A girl at another table asked, smiling at Peter and Ned.

"Mister Stark got invited to go tour some new facility, and told me I was going. Apparently it's some new robotics lab? I kind of ignored the conversation because I only found out I was going last night."

"Oh that's great Peter! Hopefully it goes well." She said, before turning back the group she was sitting with.

"The only way it'd go well is if you don't come back, Parker." Flash sneered before turning away.

"With how often people keep trying to blow him up, it's a possibility." Peter moaned, leaning his elbows on the table.

"Man Pete, you really don't wanna go." Ned said, looking at his friend.

"It's too late, he already announced it, and a bunch of reporters apparently took it to mean his intern would already be going; they didn't name me, but now it'll be suspicious if I don't get seen there with him." Ned nodded sympathetically at his friend, and the two headed off to get ready for class as the bell rang. It was on his way out of school when Peter bumped into the girl who had spoken to him at lunch, and knocked her books onto the ground.

"Oh crap, sorry!" Peter said, quickly picking the books up off the ground and handing them to her.

"Oh, it's fine Peter, don't worry bout it; was lost in thought." She said, smiling; she looked worried.

"Everything alright?"

"Oh yeah, just…applying for an internship this week, and I'm super nervous. I have to write an essay, but it's sort of an interview with someone and I can't pick who!"

"Oh, where are you applying?"

"O-oh it's…a small company, a research lab; they work on clean energy and stuff, not stark standard but I really want to work for them, they seem great to work for." She said, kicking a pebble as they walked to the front of the school together.

"Oh wow, that sounds great." Peter said, and paused, then. "Would it help if you could do your essay thing on Mister Stark? Or Dr Banner?"

"Well, yeah! It'd probably guarantee me a place of some sort but they wouldn't have time, even if they did it as favour. With Norway and everything, you know, why would they make the time for some high schooler?"

"Because I'll tell them to; I'll talk to them about it while we're away, do you have time?"

"Y-yeah I've got a few weeks to apply still."

"Awesome." Peter said, and quickly said goodbye and hurried over to car that was nearby, and jumped into the backseat.

"Who's that?" Happy asked as he pulled the car onto the main road.

"A girl from school? Haven't really spoken to her before, she's in my English class I think."

"Nice?"

"She's nice yeah; applying for some internship at a lab soon, she's smart so I think she'll be fine."

"That's good, you packed your bag for Norway right?"

"Yes Mum, it's ready to go."

Happy rolled his eyes but Peter knew the man was smiling; they said goodbyes when Happy dropped him off at the tower, and Peter went inside. The tower was in chaos.

Tony and Bruce were arguing in the kitchen, Steve and Bucky were arguing in the lounge with Clint; Natasha was standing in the doorway to the room with a cup of coffee in hand, watching the scene. She saw Peter step out of the elevator, and saw his shoulders rise and fall gently as he sighed. Peter saw her and gave a small wave, picked his bag up off the elevator floor, and left the living area so that he could walk to the quinjet with Natasha. A few minutes later, everyone was on board, and they had officially left the tower. The plane ride was quiet, apart from Peter, who had begun talking as soon they left the tower, and seemed to refuse to stop. He rambled to Natasha about how it was cool they were spider buddies, and the spider he'd gotten out of Mister Stark's bathroom, then he moved to Clint and talking about how he liked the circus, well the idea of it, he'd never actually been and was it fun at the circus?

He left Clint, and found Bruce sitting in a small room with a book in his hand; Peter hovered in the doorway, and asked about the book, if it was good, should Peter read it; he left before Bruce threw the book at him. Bucky was in the pilot's room, in the bed, and the door was locked. Peter decided Steve and Tony were next then.

Peter came to the driver's seats, and looked out the huge expanse of land that had come into view. It was a huge landmass of green, with specks of snow covering small areas, and a huge lake winding through the centre of it. Peter stood between Tony and Steve's seats and rested a hand on either one, and leant forward.

"If we opened the window, he might fall out." Tony said, and Steve nodded.

"I think the rest of the team would celebrate us."

"I'll celebrate when you're all talking again and not filling this jet with the kind of tension high schoolers are known for." Peter said without looking at them, and hurried to the back of the jet as they began to land. Peter didn't run; he waited, and bounced where he stood as the jet came to a stop on the ground and the ramp slowly descended, until it was touching the grass outside. Tony was the first out of the jet, and the others followed slowly, Peter at the end of the line. What they saw, was breathtaking; the landscape had been transformed into a bustling city of tents, and small stone huts, with other buildings in construction amongst them. Peter could see Thor walking towards them, a woman walking beside him; the two were in conversation, and it seemed heated.

"Ah friends! I am glad Loki was able to reach you, The King of Wakanda has been at work for much of the day already, he is a most lovely man and I approve highly of his uniform, I am a huge fan of midgardian cats. Come! I shall show you around." The blonde god boomed, smiling at the team; they followed him, walking through the makeshift streets of the forming town. Thor spent the walk explaining the plans for the shield to Tony, who was nodding along, obviously trying to get as much information as he could. The others were busy chatting, to each other, to the Asgardians who approached them to give thanks; they appreciated the team coming to help them. No one approached Peter, he kept himself hidden behind the group; despite this, he could feel eyes staring at him, as if he didn't belong. He didn't he supposed, he wasn't an Avenger; he was some kid who had appeared with them. This was confirmed to Peter, when an older man approached the group and bowed to Thor. Peter's head was aching, his senses didn't seem to like the man, at all.

 _ **Hello! I've had the next few chapters written for ages, they just needed editing, and I've been distracted! I ended up writing a new fic with an OC, and accidentally wrote eight chapters of it. It's been fun writing about a few characters I usually don't use! I will work on the next few chapters of this fic, as well as 'Tough as Nails' and try to get them up!**_


	29. Chapter 29 - A Child

**Chapter 29**

 **A Child**

"My king." The man said, and Peter noticed that Thor frowned at the name. "We have noticed that your fellow warriors have brought a…child along with them. Shall we take him with us to the libraries to be watched? It would not prove a good idea to have a child running about." The man said, glancing at Peter for a moment. Peter had ducked behind Steve; his face was burning. Thor frowned at the man, and looked back at the team, then back to the man.

"They have done no such thing; there is no child amongst them." Thor said, staring at the man. The older man frowned, and stepped forward; he reached out, and grabbed Peter's wrist, which was visible just behind Steve. He yanked, and pulled Peter forward, where Thor could see him. Peter knew it was coming, it was annoying that the man thought he could just touch him when he liked; he just wanted to hide behind Steve; it wasn't something he'd ever imagined doing. Peter heard someone gasp, and someone else hissed; he just stood there, staring at the ground thinking about how hot his skin felt where the man was holding him.

"Councilman, you are mistaken." Thor said, and held an arm out in front of Tony, who had stepped forward. "That is no child. He is what the midgardians call a 'teenager', and I do not like the thought of what may occur if you continue to hold him like that."

"He is a child! Look at him; they are foolish to bring him here! He will get in the wa-"

The old man was interrupted by Tony shouting at him to let go, but Tony's colourful words were cut off by a voice approaching.

"How dare you touch a hero of Wakanda!" T'Challa's voice boomed over the group, gathering the attention of a number of Asgardians nearby. Okoye was beside T'Challa, spear ready in her hands as the two approached the group. "You will show respect to your superiors!"

"My superior!? He is a ch-" The elderly man said, and quickly stopped when Okoye's spear came to a sudden stop in front of his face; his grip loosened and Peter quickly moved back, bumping against Tony.

" _He is your superior."_ Okoye said coldly, before stepping back beside T'Challa, spear upright beside her.

"My king! You allow this? You would allow these people to speak to us like this?" The man asked, looking at Thor, who was grinning widely at Okoye.

"Of course not! I allow them to speak to you like this." Thor said, and motioned for the group to continue after him. They made their way up a hill; Peter heard the noise of metal striking metal, and looked down the other side of the hill to see a woman in a sword fight; she was quick, and seemed strong. He saw that the woman had a different sword to the other warriors; his eyes were glued to it.

"You can't have it." Tony said, grinning at the teen. He knew that look too well.

"Ah young friend! I was told of your adventure in fetching the weapon of the King's lovely guard; truly a story to be told over many beverages!" Thor laughed, clapping Peter on the back; the boy staggered, but grinned down at the group. "Though I am unsure how she would react to your game."

"Is her sword made of electricity?" Peter asked, slipping his hands into the pockets of his jeans.

"No, simply made from an Asgardian metal; incredibly strong!"

"Then it'll be fine." Peter said with a smile, pulling his eyes away from the sword, as they walked up to the top of the hill.

"Sweet gods above!" Tony shouted, and stepped behind Peter; he held the boy by his shoulders, shielding himself from something.

"Hey!" Peter shouted and felt the movement; a snake was moving through the grass nearby. "You're really pushing it with me being a human shield lately."

Thor shot the snake a dirty look, and with an amused hiss; it grew, and Loki grew into his full form from the small snake. Nobody commented, though Tony made sure Peter was between his self and Loki asthey continued to walk over the top of the hill, and down the other side.

"Brother, that is unnecessary; the joke has been played before." Thor said, as Loki moved into stepped beside him.

"Ah brother, I know how you love snakes but, the councilman does _not_ like snakes; I thought it an interesting way to listen to him earlier." Loki said; pleased by how white the older man had gone. "It seems he is not a fan of the youngest member of your group."

"Technically, the youngest member is also like, the strongest member." Peter said, pointing at Steve. "What? I'm _not_ an avenger, remember? _I'm_ a handler."

"What did you hear, brother?" Thor said, walking still, he had moved further ahead of the group, Loki beside him.

"That it is fortunate midgardians are so easily killed."

Peter could feel the tension grow around the group. Thor looked ahead of them, though he didn't speak.

"Thankfully Peter is strangely difficult to kill, then." Clint said, as they reached the top of another hill, and could look down at the entirety of the makeshift city. It was massive; a sprawling maze of makeshift buildings, tent and small huts, with more solid homes under construction.

"Is everyone here a god?" Tony asked, taking in the sprawling city.

"No; just Loki and myself." Thor said, and the group continued to walk, down the hill and along a flat area of land before they stood on the edge of a cliff, near a waterfall; the water crashed over the edge of the cliff face, and fell into the abyss below them; the land below was simply too far away to see. Clint moved between the water and Peter, slowly, so that no body noticed.

"My friends; I shall lead you back to the city, and allow you to settle in before any work is begun. There shall be a great celebration for dinner tonight; a party in the city." Thor said happily, and did indeed lead everyone back to the jet before leaving them to their own devices. Bucky quickly decided he wanted to go for a walk, so Peter followed him. They ended up near the waterfall again, which surprised Peter.

"No good place could be this cold, this is bullshit." Bucky moaned, kicking a pebble over the edge of the cliff.

"I agree a hundred percent with that."

"Why don't I get a nickname?" Bucky asked, looking at Peter like a hurt puppy.

"Umm, because the one I did give you was when you weren't awake and was in very poor taste?" Peter offered, and Bucky laughed. They heard footsteps, and saw a number of guards, and the councilman approach them.

"Hi again?"

"Hush, you will follow us to the libraries; you are a danger to this place, and will no doubt interrupt the building progress." The old man said, glaring at Peter.

"I'd rather not?"

"You have no choice; it has been discussed with the King. Bring him." The man ordered, and the guards move forward. Two stepped in front of Bucky, while another three moved to grab Peter. Both Peter and Bucky fought to keep them away, but the numerous hands seemed too much; a mixture of being too cold, and being caught by surprise, seemed to stun Peter. He felt himself step back, then he felt something press against his neck, and cut. He shouted in pain, and stumbled back in shock; his feet found nothing solid to stand on. Peter's chest sank, as he made the realization, seconds before tumbling back over the edge. Bucky tried to reach out, but was blocked by the guards between him and Peter.

"Peter!? Shit!" Bucky shouted, and used his metal arm to very forcibly push one guard away, before punching the same guard hard in the nose. He heard the faint beeping from his arm, and cursed again in german; this seemed to be another situation that called for it. Bucky heard a hiss, and looked down to see the shiny green snake that was moving between his feet. He stepped away, and watched as the shimmering creature grew, and Loki was once again standing in front of the councilman.

"Loki! Finally, someone who might see sense!" The council man said, holding his hands together in front of his chest; almost a prayer.

"Agent Barnes, do you require assistance in alerting your team?" Loki asked without looking at Bucky.

"No." Bucky answered, and brought a hand to his ear. "We've got an issue; it's Parker related." He said, and lowered his hand to his side.

"Ah, Agent Barnes; I almost forgot." Loki said, and gave a soft wave with his hand; a wave of warmth climbed over Bucky's body, cutting off the bitter chill that had been clawing at his skin. He let out a relieved sigh; he had been holding his breath. They heard thunder, then seconds later the sky was filled with crashing bolts of lightning. The council man looked at the sky with shock; his King was obviously upset.

"Ah councilman, you seem worried." Loki said.

"Our King is obviously upset! The sky…it is rarely like that, even after everything that has happened to his people."

"I'm worried about Tony…" Bucky said, looking at the cliff edge. "Someone might actually die today when he finds out I'm really hoping it's not me."

"With any luck it would have bee-" The councilman started, but stepped back and stumbled over the rest of the sentence when Loki took a step towards him.

"Councilman, you are not most obviously _not_ a clever man; otherwise you would know when to keep your mouth shut."

"Loki!" A woman's voice boomed from a hilltop nearby; Bucky saw a woman with brown hair, wearing the most marvellous set of armour he'd ever seen; in her hand was a helmet, held in one arm against her body. "Do you require your brother?"

With a nod from Loki, she turned and left their view; moments later, there was a booming crash as Thor landed beside Loki, sending dirt and grass up around his feet.

"Loki, what has happened? Where is our youngest friend?" Thor asked, and followed Loki's hand as it pointed to the edge of the cliff. "I have seen him in battle, he is not a poorly footed warrior, what happened?"

"Your council seems to have a different opinion than yourself on the youngest member of your team." Loki said, as Bucky walked up beside him.

"I shall have to inform the others; I fear the reaction of the man of iron, it shall not be a pleasant one." Thor said and stood tall, facing his councilman. "You have risked much my friend; you must hope he is found well. If not, there will be a council called and a punishment will be discussed. You may have risked the help the midgardians are providing us." Thor turned, and stalked away, before vanishing into a puff of green dust. Loki turned to see Bucky standing at the cliff's edge, looking over at the abyss that was below; it was mostly snow, from what he could see, then it faded into fog that he couldn't see through.

"Agent Barnes?" Loki asked.

"He wasn't wearing his spider suit, he's weak to the cold." Bucky said, and turned again to face Loki; he looked past Loki, at the old man who was taking steps backwards. "If he's dead, so are you." Bucky said; it was a growl. The man gave a noise of fear, before turning and running as fast as he could, which was a lot quicker than Bucky expected from the old man.

"I had better see Parker when I get there!" Tony's voice came through the communicator in Bucky's ear, and Bucky groaned.

"No such luck." Bucky replied, and moments later, Tony arrived. The suit landed on the ground, with Natasha and Clint holding on, and Tony stepped out into the cold air. The genius did not look how Loki expected; he was used to seeing Tony in some form of control, whether it be physically with his suit, or verbally with his words, as scathing as they might be at times. Tony looked completely lost, and utterly furious.

"Tony-" Bucky decided against continuing what he was saying, and shut his mouth. Tony walked over to the cliff and looked over the edge, as Bucky had done earlier, and cursed. Thor appeared again, from a green flash of light, and stumbled slightly.

"Apologies brother, it is simply a faster way to travel." Loki said, and Thor nodded. They all saw the woman that had appeared alongside Thor; Bucky realised it was the armoured woman from earlier, only she was wearing her helmet this time.

"There's a storm coming." Natasha said, and heard an angry sigh from Tony.

"Yes, it will be kept at bay." Thor said, stepping next to Tony. "Friend Tony, we shall find the young insectoid, it is my promise as King."

"Thor?" The woman asked, and Thor nodded. The two of them moved, and threw themselves from the cliff, and fell into the foggy abyss. Moments later, the abyss was lit up by a surge of lightning, which shot from below them, up into the sky. The others took a step back at the sudden surge of light, and the unexpected heat that came with it.

"Let's go then." Clint said, and Tony returned to the suit. Natasha and Clint held fast to it again, and nodded at Bucky.

"I'll keep an eye on the old guy; make sure he's not tryna kill anyone else." Bucky said, and everyone nodded. The suit powered up, and within seconds were flying down into the abyss; which now seemed to be filled with considerably less fog. The area below them was huge; it was an expanse of snowy rock with tufts of brown grass growing sporadically and large rocks sticking out from the ground below, pointing towards the sky.

"Damn, no outside heating on this thing?" Clint asked, holding tight to the suit as they hovered closer to the ground, before landing. Clint and Natasha stepped off, and began to search amongst the snow and rocks.

"Oh shit, Bucky." Tony said, suddenly remembering that Bucky was in fact here, and his handler was now missing.

"Yeah?" Bucky came back over the communicators.

"Has your arm gone off?"

"Earlier but Loki did some kinda...something, and now I'm warm. I'm sure he's slowly killing me with space magic but it'll do for now."

Tony looked around, and saw Clint and Natasha walking along a small river that was nearby. The water wasn't frozen but it did have some sheets of ice floating along it's surface, crashing down over another smaller fall nearby. The three of them fell into step and wondered along the water's edge, and peered over to the second ledge, and Natasha was the first to see it. She threw herself over the edge, and dropped to the ground below her, followed by the others. The sky above them was lit up again by another flash of lightning, and the fog that was creeping in around them seemed to dissipate. Natasha had found a scrap of fabric, and another a few steps away. They followed the trail of fabric scraps, until they found a hoodie nearby, laying in the snow.

"He's undressing himself, he feels hot." Clint said, and they all knew what was happening; hypothermia. The rush to find more clothing settled in, and they were silent as they hunted around them for more.

"There!" Tony shouted, and leapt over a rock that was in front of him, as he raced to the torn shirt that was nearby. Tony looked around, and saw something else; a shoe. He walked over, and realised there was a foot still in it, and a leg was attached to that foot. Tony raced over to see that there was an entire body there, in the snow; he'd found Peter. "Peter!" He shouted, but the body didn't move. He came to the body at last, and saw that Peter was pressed into a small alcove in the side of a wall of rock. Tony began to slowly pull Peter away from the wall, and heard a groaning above him; the rock wall was not as stable as he had thought.

"Thor!" Tony shouted, as he heard the rock above him groan, and begin to tumble. Tony quickly shoved Peter further into the small alcove, in time for the rock to land between him and peter, trapping the teen. "No! No, no, no!" he shouted, pounding closed fists against the huge mass of rock that had fallen.

"Thor is keeping the storm at bay, to keep us from freezing." A ladie's voice came from behind him, and Tony turned to see the armoured woman. "He can not come to help; the storm would swallow this valley." She walked over and stopped beside Tony, who was crouched in the snow, forehead resting against the rock.

"Then leave." Tony spat, turning his head just enough to glare at her from under his eyebrows. "I want help, not messages. Unless you are a god, I don't want to see you anymore." He glared at her another moment, before staring back at the rock. He couldn't make himself move; he knew that the suit had taken Clint and Nat back already, and they weren't happy about it. The cold was simply too dangerous.

"I am not a god." She said, and plunged her sword down, where it cut easily into the snow and rock, and sat upright for her to collect when she was ready. "I am a Valkyrie." She crouched beside Tony, and pressed her fingers and palms against the rock, easing it so she could get her hands beneath it, before she gave a groan and stood again, holding the rock above her head. Tony scrambled to pull Peter out, before she dropped the rock back where it had fallen.

"I don't care if it's Loki that does it, we need to get him out of here." Tony said, pulling his own jacket off and tugging Peter's arms into the sleeves, wrapping the teen in the fabric. The woman nodded, and let out a shrill whistle. She grabbed the handle of her sword as the world seemed to shake, and dissolved into a mess of grey and white lights dots; when the dots faded, they were standing in a large room, with a few chairs and what looked like a medical bed nearby, only it was made of stone. Peter was taken from Tony's arms by Steve, who seemed to appear from nowhere, and taken over to the bed. Steve gently laid Peter onto the bed, and gently adjusted the teen so he was laying comfortably. Tony looked around and saw the team, all scattered about the room, unsure what to do.

"So, who's going to magic him better?" Tony finally asked, staring at Thor and Loki. The gods were caught off guard by Tony's question and simply stared at the man.

"Stark-"

"Friend Tony-"

"No!" Tony shouted, and launched himself across the room at them, taking quick steps until he was inches away from the two men. "He was here to help! He did nothing, and your people wanted him dead! They might have even succeeded!" Tony pressed a finger into Thor's chest, and glared at the man, despite how much taller Thor was. Tony heard footsteps as more people entered the room, but he didn't look at them; he didn't care. "If he is dead; I will flatten this city." Tony hissed, and stepped back. He shoved past Loki, and left the room; he found himself outside a large building, one of the few solid structures in the strange city. Tony crouched down, then sat on the ground, and leant back against the building; he screamed, and felt no shame in it.


	30. Chapter 30 - Your Dad's a Jerk

**Chapter 30**

 **Your Dad's a Jerk**

It wasn't the fall that frightened Peter the most, though it was plenty terrifying in it's own right, nor was it the speed at which he fell; it was the fact that he landed at all. The ground he landed on was soft and wet. He was laying on his side, completely still; he was afraid that moving would hurt. He could hear something nearby, water, waves splashing against rocks. He opened his eyes and saw that he was laying on grass, which was wet with ocean spray. He groaned as he slowly moved onto his hands and knees, and took a deep breath; it tasted cold, salty and cold. It stung his chest, but he felt far better; the cold was invigorating. Peter slowly, hesitantly, climbed to his feet; was he dead?

It certainly seemed it, he had fallen a long way, and now he was somewhere so different to where he had been earlier. How long had it been? How long had he fallen for?

"So much for Asgardians then, buncha jerks." Peter grumbled to himself, and was startled when he heard someone laugh. He turned his head slightly and saw an older man standing at the edge of what he realised was a cliff looking over an ocean. The man's hands were together behind his back, and he didn't react to Peter as the teenager walked over and stood next to the man; gosh he looked old.

"Greetings my child." The old man said, and Peter swore the man sounded familiar. So familiar that it hurt.

"Umm, hi?" Peter said, not really sure what was going on.

"Apologies dear child, we have not met before."

"No, you seem…familiar though."

"My son is much like me. He is also…remarkably different, in some marvellous ways. He has built such a strong team of people around himself, and his brother…it is…good, to see them getting along, if a little coldly at times."

"You're…Thor's Dad?"

"Yes, dear child."

"And Loki's?"

"…Yes, I am also Loki's father."

"You don't sound very happy about it." Peter said, staring out at the water. "Where are we?"

"From memory, a place in Midgard called Norway."

"But I was- oh." Peter realized; it must be true then. He had fallen too far; it had killed him.

"Yes child, it would seem you were there, with my sons; may I ask why?"

"I was…asked to help, with something about rebuilding Thor and Loki's home."

"You would have been safe with my sons and Thor's team; how did this happen?"

"Well, some old guy didn't like me much. Tried to grab me, and I fell off a cliff. I'm usually more resistant to falling."

"That is…most troublesome, my child. I will leave you to say your goodbyes, then I shall help you to leave." The man said, nodding once before turning and walking away from Peter. Peter could hear thunder rumbling overhead, in the distance behind them. His body was shaking, and he tried hard to hold back the tears; he wasn't sad, he was _furious._ Nothing about this seemed fair, he was there to help, why was he being punished?

"I don't want to _go."_ Peter said, glaring out at the ocean he was standing so _close_ to. Things never went well near large bodies of water. What would happen this time? Perhaps he could throw himself in, it was almost tempting.

"My child, I know, and I am sorry but that is how this must go."

Peter spun where he stood, and glared at the old man.

"No! I was brought there to help _your_ people, I was brought there to help Bucky and…oh god, the cold…he's probably hurt now as well, or someone else is, because of your council! _I was there to hel-"_ Peter's shouts came to an abrupt stop, when he saw the storm that had come over them. The sky was full of dark clouds, and thick bolts of lightning.

"Why…why is the lightning green?" Peter asked in a half whisper, and the old man turned and stared up as well, then took a nervous step back.

"I…they…this is old magic, this is not something they know of! This is not something Loki should know!" The old man shouted, and the sky cracked with a sudden clap of thunder, and the brightest streak of lightning yet, lighting up the dark clouds into a stark white for a brief moment. The air seemed to shake around them, and Peter fell back onto the grass, crawling backwards to try and escape the lightning which seemed to fly further and further down from the clouds. "Child, you must go! Your time has come!"

Peter heard the man's cries, just barely audible over the angry storm, and felt tears sting his eyes again; he rubbed them away, sniffling as he did. He wasn't ready to die, he had survived Berlin, he had survived an electric spear, and a building falling on him; and this is how he was going to go? The sky roared again with angry thunder, and the lightning struck again. Peter watched as one of the bolts seemed to wave about like the tail of an angered animal, before whipping to the side, and shooting towards him. Peter managed to get out a half-squeaked shout, before the lightning struck him in his chest, and he felt the hot zapping cover his skin, dancing like when it had come from the spear. He wanted to scream, but he couldn't make his mouth move and he felt his eyes growing hotter as they blurred, and everything meshed together until it was all black.

"What have you done!?" The councilman shouted in panic, as he raced towards the building the avengers were standing outside of. The room had become too loud, too bright and simply too hot to remain in. Steve was keeping Tony back, preventing his friend and teammate from running into the danger. Tony had been outside when green lightning had burst from the windows and the main door, followed by the team running outside to escape the burning heat.

"Councilman!" Thor shouted, and Okoye took a step forward, pointing her spear towards the elderly man.

"Step aside woman!" The elderly man said, and Okoye did so, to allow Thor to take two large strides forward, and stare down at the man.

"You have caused a great deal of damage today, and are treading a fine line, councilman; be careful." Thor said, and thunder clapped from…somewhere. Tony was silently impressed at Thor saying 'treading a fine line', and made a mental note to compliment him later, when Steve let the hell go of him!

"Steve!" Tony shouted, and Steve let go, causing Tony to stumble forward.

"It's stopped." Steve said, and true to his word, the lightning had come to a stop. They slowly entered the room, which was now cool again, and found Peter crouched on the floor beside the bed he had been placed, groaning and struggling to stand on his feet. Tony was the only one to not come to a stop, he just kept running, and fell to his knees beside Peter. Peter hadn't even raised his head before Tony wrapped his arms around the teen, and just stayed like that; slumped on the ground, holding the teenager he had brought here.

"Peter oh my fucking god you were…we found you…I found you and some…lady version of my beautiful Apple Pie lifted up a fucking rock to-"

"I met Thor's Dad." Peter said hoarsely, coughing after he spoke.

"You what?" Tony asked, and looked at Thor, then Loki and saw that both men looked equally confused. "I never even thought about the fact Thor and Loki would have parents."

"Insectoid, our Father is…dead, he passed some time ago, before our world was destroyed." Thor explained, and Loki was silently surprised that Thor did not mention any part that his brother had in his father's death. He was thankful for it.

"Yeah he mentioned that. No offense guys but your Dad's kind of a jerk." Peter said, and slumped further against Tony, letting the man support his sore body.

"Don't you speak of our passed King in such a way; to speak so poorly to two kings, speaks volumes of your character, _child."_ The councilman spat, coming to stand near Steve and Thor at the front of the group.

"Thor, could I ask you a question?" Bucky asked.

"Of course friend Barnes, though this does not seem like the correct time."

"It's related; we're friends, right?"

"Of course, friend Barnes!"

"Steve too?" Bucky said, catching Steve's eye contact for a moment; the blonde super soldier nodded.

"Of course, friend Barnes, what is wrong?"

"Nothing Thor; is your council made up of gods as well?"

"No, they are Asgardians, much like the others of my people, but they are not like Loki or I."

"Good to know." Bucky said, and Steve swung. His body spun with speed as he curled his hand into a fist, which easily found its target. The fist connected with the councilman's stomach, and the elderly man crumpled to the floor with a heavy gasp.

"Captain! What are you doing?" Thor shouted, but did not move to stop Steve.

"Tony's busy, so I did it for him." Steve explained; everyone seemed to accept the reason, and made no comment on the elderly man who shuffled his way outside, cursing in a language which only Loki and Thor knew.

"Did it help, Tony?" Natasha asked, smiling softly from behind Bucky.

"Immensely." Tony said, grinning. Peter shifted against him, and sat up again.

"Your Dad was pretty upset at you doing green-lightning magic." Peter said, looking at Thor and Loki. "I wasn't too upset about it until you _attacked me with lightning."_

"Young Peter, we had nothing to do with it. It…happened on it's own accord, which is frightening." Loki said, standing straight and tall, hands behind his back. "It is not magic I am familiar with, and I intend to do some reading, if possible."

"Yeah, your Dad was pretty…upset, thinking you knew how to do it."

"You saw him? You're sure?" Thor asked.

"Old guy with an eyepatch? _Really_ wanted me to just accept being dead?" Peter asked, and Thor nodded solemnly. "I'm really sick of seeing oceans and stuff, you know?"

"You saw an ocean?" Loki asked, and stepped forward so he was standing beside Thor.

"Yeah? On this cliff over an ocean, he said it was in Norway."

Loki cursed in another language, and disappeared in a swirl of green smoke, while Thor nodded once and left the building. Steve nodded at the others, who turned and left after Thor, but did not follow the man as he wondered away into the city he had helped to build. Steve walked over to Tony and rested a hand on his friend's shoulder; the man shuddered with a heavy breath, but stood up, and allowed Steve to lift Peter up from the ground. The teen wasn't pleased about being carried, but he didn't complain as Steve carried him outside to the street, and found the others speaking to T'Challa.

"Mister Stark, the child has apparently awoken." T'Challa said, seeing Tony and Steve come from the building, his eyes found Peter and he smiled. "It is good to hear, my friend."

It was decided that Tony would remain in Norway, and finish helping T'Challa with the cloaking shield, while the others would return to the tower so that Bruce could check over Peter in the medbay. Peter didn't argue; he didn't speak during the flight home, nor did he speak when Steve moved him to the medbay, and placed him on a medical bed, ready for Bruce. The medical check was long, Bruce had to be sure that Peter wasn't injured in any capacity.

"Well, I can happily say you seem to be totally unaffected, physically." Bruce said, while Peter sat on the bed, pulling his shirt back over his head.

"Physically?" Peter asked.

"Peter, you _died,_ from what we can guess anyway; you'll be messed up to some degree, even if you don't want to think about it. You don't have to talk about it to any of us, but just to someone, at some point." Bruce said, finishing up his paperwork; Tony would be pleased by the medical results.

Peter nodded, and slid off the medical bed; he grabbed a hoodie from the seat near the door and left the room. He pulled the hoodie on as he stepped into the elevator, then realised it was _gigantic._

"What the hell?" Peter asked himself out loud, as he wondered up to the lounge, where he found Steve sitting on a couch, sketchpad in hand. Steve looked up at Peter, and raised an eyebrow when he saw the teen.

"Why you wearing my hoodie?" Steve asked, and Peter felt his face go hot.

"It was in the room, I figured it was mine." Peter said, trying to explain it. It was a perfectly reasonable explanation, and was true, so why did he want to run and hide? Steve shrugged after a moment and went back to his drawing, apparently satisfied with Peter's reason. Peter let out a breath and went into the kitchen; apparently dying really took it out of you. He was starving, and ready to pass out in bed, or anywhere vaguely comfortable.

"There's a plastic bag on the counter, Clint and Bucky got some stuff for you." Steve called out from the couch, not looking up from the sketchpad he was drawing on. "I haven't checked it yet, so I've got idea if letting them go grocery shopping together was a good idea."

Peter was holding the fridge door open when he turned to see the plastic bag. He let the door close and stepped over to the counter, and tipped the contents of the bag out onto the counter. It was _full_ of packets of instant noodles; all kinds of flavours, some in English, some not.

"What on earth?" Peter said outloud.

"Clint kept talking about comfort foods? Bucky just likes going to the shops." Steve called out. Peter picked a flavour at random, and went about following the diagrams on the back; the instructions weren't in English. He finally had a bowl of hot noodles, which smelt deliciously spicy, and he sat on the couch next to Steve. He suddenly felt very brave; he also really wanted to see what Steve was drawing. Curiosity was dangerous. Steve glanced up at Peter from the sketchpad, staring at Peter from under his eyebrows; okay, maybe Peter wasn't feeling _that_ brave.

"Watcha doing, kid?"

"Wanted to see what you're drawing."

"It's not you." Steve said, grinning at Peter.

"Awww, why not?" Peter asked around his noodles.

"I couldn't think of what moment of yours to draw. I didn't like the thought of Tony finding out I drew you falling off a cliff."

"You're a smart man." Tony said, walking out of the elevator with a takeaway coffee in hand.

"Maybe not the best moment but…it'd be a good drawing at least?" Peter offered, and let out a gasp as Tony dropped himself onto the couch, between Steve and Peter. "Be careful!" Peter said, being careful not to spill any of the boiling noodle broth.

"You know, you two are so awkwardly cute together, it almost hurts." Tony said, sipping on his coffee. Peter could see Steve's face go red, and he was sure his own would be as well.

 _Blame the noodles, they're hot after all._

"Tony, what?" Steve spluttered.

"Like, I couldn't figure out how to make you two be friends! Now I can't tell if you two are friends or really differently aged brothers!" Tony said, grinning at Steve. Peter took the moment to escape from the couch, and leave to his bedroom to enjoy his comfort noodles in peace.

"Tony!" Steve said, wanting Tony to just _stop talking._

"Thank god it's just that though, any cuter, or any more awkward and I'd seriously worry about your motives, Captain Apple Pie."

"Tony please, shut up! He's a team member, he technically died recently and he's also a SIXTEEN YEAR OLD." Steve shouted the last part, but Tony just grinned.

"Aren't you like, still in your _early_ twenties?" Tony asked, Steve just huffed and left the lounge. Tony settled into the couch and smiled to himself. Steve had called Peter a team mate.

 _ **So like, I'm not trying to ship Steve and Peter? Cuz that'd be super weird, and I'm not good at writing that kinda stuff, it's just kinda fun writing them being awkward with each other. Soz not soz.**_

 _ **I totally forgot about this chapter! I wrote it like forever ago! How fun! The text below is unrelated to this fix; it's the beginning part of a fic I've been writing on the side with an OC. Not sure where it will go, but I've done ten chapters of it, somehow.**_

 _ **During**_

" _I don't want to go…"_

 _ **Just After**_

 _Heavy breathing; confusion. Everything had been dark; it was suddenly so bright._

 _ **Three Months After**_

" _Mister Stark has just arrived."_

 _The Agent gave a quick nod before leaving the room, leaving Steve to his thoughts. The door to the empty room opened again, and in walked Tony Stark. Steve rose from his seat slowly, and how out a hand as Tony walked over; he wasn't expecting the other man to wrap his arms around the super soldier, and pull him into a tight hold. Steve froze, but eventually returned the hug._

" _Tony?"_

" _You're another one who survived. Why didn't you want to come back to the tower?"_

"… _I didn't think I could."_

 _Tony leant back, but kept his hands on Steve's shoulders; Steve suddenly felt so much larger than Tony, the man looked weaker than Steve had ever seen._

" _I invited you back. I told them to tell you, I told them so many times to tell you to come back."_

" _Tony…they never told me, I've just been here since I arrived back." Steve said, looking around the almost empty room; it was entirely white, with a bed, dining table and a small kitchenette in the corner. There was an attached bathroom, but it wasn't very grand. "It's very…reminiscent of where I stayed when I first woke up."_

" _They…those sons of bitches!" Tony shouted, stepping back and kicking the dining chair that Steve had been sitting in._

" _Tony, they still haven't really accepted me back." Steve said, shrugging._

" _I don't care!" Tony shouted, and turned away. "Get your stuff, we're going home."_

 _The words crashed over Steve, and he suddenly felt as if he was being swept away. He didn't have much to collect, and soon was following Tony down a hallway. It was the furthest he'd been away from the small room since he'd gotten back. Steve's worries over whether Tony had truly accepted him back were confirmed when Tony punched a SHIELD agent square in the nose for calling Steve a traitor and telling him to return to the room he had been given. Now, he was sitting in the backseat of Tony's car, with Tony next to him._

" _Sir, something strange has been picked up by my scanners on the footage." Friday announced as Tony returned to the tower, with Steve behind him._

" _I'll head to the lab, have the footage ready on the screen." Tony said, and left Steve in the main lounge. Tony sat in his seat in the lab, and didn't turn when he heard Steve follow him in, sitting on the couch that was near the door to the lab. Tony watched the footage Friday had sent to the screen; it was much like every other bit he had watched. People suddenly stopping, and blowing off into the wind as dust. He watched it twice, before asking Friday to slow it down, and watched it a third time. Amongst a group of seven people, four people drifted off into the wind. Tony had to rewatch it because he could swear…no, that's not how it worked. Did it? He watched as someone reappeared from the dust, forming from a cloud of the dust, which billowed around them for a second, before dissipating into the breeze. It wasn't one of the four he had watched disappear, it was someone new. They stood for a brief moment, before falling to their hands and knees, breathing heavily as they stared at the ground._

" _Who's that?" Steve had walked up behind Tony without Tony realizing._

" _Christ Rogers!" Tony shouted, startled by the man. He spun his seat to glare at the man, who was smiling sheepishly. "No one important, Friday just thought the footage was weird." Tony shrugged, but Steve nagged him enough that he sighed and ended up playing the footage for the other man._

" _They…appeared? That's not how this works. Is it? People reappear?" Steve was staring at the paused footage. Tony pressed play, and they watched the remainder together. The person who appeared was wearing dark jeans and a dark blue hoodie, which was pulled up over their head. They stood up, and looked around where they had appeared; a parking garage. Lights overhead flickered, and they looked up, before turning and running from the camera's view._

" _They came back." Tony said, jabbing the screen with his finger. "We need to find them."_

" _Where's the footage from?"_

" _New York, a multi story parking garage, they look like it's a lower level."_

" _Are there any street cameras?" Steve asked, and Tony looked at him with raised eyebrows._

" _Yes, we can follow them, see where they ended up going…it's worth a shot. We need…we need the others, whoever we have left."_

" _I'll get them." Steve said._

" _How?"_

" _They came back Tony. They just…didn't stay at SHIELD." Steve said, and left the lab. Tony's chest ached; was it hope? Joy? No, guilt. They would see him, and refuse to help, he knew it. Tony forced himself to move, to ignore the thoughts; hours later, he was standing in the same parking garage, in the same spot the person had appeared._


	31. Chapter 31 - Who Called You?

**Chapter 31**

 **Who Called You?**

Steve wasn't expecting to find Tony in his bedroom, but he wasn't that surprised either. Tony was laying over Steve's bed on his back, hands under his head as he stared at the ceiling. Steve put his gym bag onto the ground and rested his hands on his hips, staring at Tony.

"Can't say I was expecting company but I also can't say I'm that surprised you're in here; what does that say about my life?"

"That you punched an Asgardian official in the stomach?"

"Which he completely deserved." Steve added and sat on the armchair in the corner that he kept there for Bucky. "What do I owe the pleasure of the visit to?"

"I want to drink." Tony didn't look away from the ceiling.

"How badly?"

"I went and bought booze, then came back and poured it into a glass. The glass is now empty because it's broken on my kitchen floor."

"And you're telling me…"

"Because I know you won't let me go back up there, and I don't want to tell the others."

"Does that include Peter?"

"…Mostly Peter."

"So are you gonna just hang out in here?"

"What do you propose instead?"

Steve thought for a moment, as he stared at the same spot on the ceiling as Tony.

"Let's see a movie."

Tony didn't recall most of the film after it had finished, but Steve was chatting away enough for both of them as they walked to get something to eat.

"Mister Stark!" A reporter had found them quickly, and Tony suspected they'd been keeping an eye on them.

"Yes?" He asked, glancing at her. "A little busy, sorry. On a dinner date with my favourite fella."

"Yes I understand but, surely, you'd like to confirm to the public that you are in fact, alive? After all, with the bombing at the Norwegian lab overnight, there are many concerns about your-"

"Excuse me?" Tony asked, standing up from his seat. "What bombing?"

"Ah so the great Tony Stark doesn't pay as much attention to the places he's visiting as he says? Hopefully you remembered to bring your young intern hom-" Tony leapt from his seat, and was running out of the restaurant, with Steve following despite Tony not having said a thing. Tony's car was already out front; the doors fell open for the two men, and both slid into the back seat as Happy got the car into gear and took off once the doors had been slammed shut.

Tony's phone was at his ear, waiting impatiently for the call to connect. Tony grumbled and connected it to the speakers in the back of the car, and threw the phone onto the seat.

The call clicked, and a man spoke. "Um, hello?"

"Lang, you fuck!" Tony shouted, startling Steve.

"Uh, Hi Tony?"

"Why didn't you tell me about the bombings?!"

"Because I found out 30 seconds before you called?"

"Oh." Tony said, and let his body slump into the seat.

"How'd you find out?"

"A reporter asking if I remembered not to leave my intern there. You?"

"My wife crying in the kitchen, holding the house phone. She'd gotten the call; I was meant to be home an hour earlier but the flight was delayed and my phone died on the plane."

"Alright, good…well, not good reallt, just…let me know if you hear anything else, and I'll do the same."

"Sure thing, Stark."

The called ended as they arrived back at the Tower. They rode the elevator in silence, and walked out into chaos. They could hear shouting, and a door slamming down the hallway where the bedrooms were. Natasha was standing near a bewildered Bruce, near the couches; Bucky was in the hallway, having come out of his room when he heard the door slam. Tony and Steve both saw the blonde woman with too pink lips, sitting on a couch, typing on a laptop.

"Uhhh…" Tony tried to talk but no words would come out.

"The door was Clint's?" Steve asked, and Natasha nodded. "Nat, do you wanna check?" She nodded, and darted down the hallway. The door opened automatically for her, and closed after she had stepped into Clint's room.

"Well. Fantastic." Tony said, and Steve shook his head.

"Hello Mister Stark, Captain Rogers." The blonde woman said, closing her laptop and looking at the two men.

"No time for you, I need to speak to Peter-"

"Your intern?"

"Yes!"

"The necessary messages were sent to your intern to make sure he understands his role; he is not to come to the Tower, he will only be visiting Stark Industries labs, not your private ones."

Tony just stared at the woman.

"It was necessary Mister Stark, the boy must understand where he belongs; he is an intern, not a member of this team. This is not a playground, he can not come here for amusement. You are a business man, you must understand that such distractions are not acceptable."

"I…see…"

"Can me and Steve go?" Bucky called from the hall, smiling like a shark.

"I…sure, yeah. You do that and I'll…try and keep Clint alive and out of the vents."

"But I need Agent Barnes for...-" Bucky and Steve practically skipped to the elevator, and heard Tony telling the woman Happy would drive her back to her place of work. There was no argument.

"She likes me, yeah?" Bucky asked Steve in the elevator, grinning.

"Oh, definitely, I can see it." Steve replied, and the two fell men fell into laugher as the elevator descended to the garage.

"Paaaarker!" Bucky called out into the school hallway, with no response. "Who the hell does this kid think he is, ignoring me?"

"A teenager being hunted down by a metal armed super assassin?"

"You shut your mouth, Apple Pie." Bucky said back, and jumped away as Steve swatted at him. It took roughly fifteen minutes for them to find the right class; they opened the door quietly, and saw that the class was watching a movie. The room was dark, and everyone's eyes were on Captain America as he moved across the screen.

"Hey man, that's you." Bucky said suddenly, and everyone's heads whipped around to look at the pair.

"I think the actor is even bigger than me." Steve laughed, then looked at the classroom of teenagers, and waved. "The pants are definitely tighter than mine."

"Is Peter Parker here?" Bucky asked, and the teacher shook her head.

"Sorry gentlemen, he just went to drop some papers off to the office for me, he shouldn't be much longer." She said, as a voice came from behind the men. " _Oh my god, why is it always you two?"_

"Peter!" Bucky shouted as the two men spun around to look at Peter; the boy looked tired, rather than upset, or nervous about them.

"Can I help you?" Peter asked, staring at the two men, as if he really didn't care about them being there.

"Hope so, Tony told us to come find you. Top secret, we don't get to know why." Bucky said, smiling like an excited child who was picking up a friend to go play. Peter sighed, and shifted past the two men to get his backpack. When Peter turned around again, he saw the sun reflect back at him and noticed Bucky was wearing a short sleeved shirt, and no sweatshirt over it; his metal arm was on full display. He followed Steve and Bucky out into the hall, and walked behind them on the way to the front door of the school.

"I don't need to get anything from the tower, the voicemail from Friday said it was staying there. So what are you two doing here?" Peter asked as they stepped out of the school, and into the downpour that had started while they were inside.

"What?" Steve asked, narrowing his eyes.

"What?"

"What you said, Peter, what do you mean it's staying at the tower? Why wouldn't it? It's your room, I guess you could take stuff home if you wanted though." Steve said, rubbing his neck in confusion. "It is your stuff."

"You guys aren't very good at kicking people out of the tower, you know? It's not hard 'leave, don't come back'. Say it with me." Peter was surprised by the flash of anger that came over the two men's eyes. Peter followed them and slid into the backseat of the car they had come in, rather than their bikes. The elevator ride up to the lounge was quiet and they entered to find Natasha sitting on a couch, with Tony trying to comfort her. They must have missed something.

"First question, who upset Natasha? Second question, where are we burying them?" Bucky asked, stepping out into the room with Steve and Peter behind him.

"Blondie, and nowhere yet, she isn't here." Tony said, rubbing Natasha's back as her body shook next to him. He looked and felt very out of place comforting the super spy, but he was determined to help. Tony looked up at Bucky, his eyes trailing over to Steve then finding Peter. The teen looked uneasy in the tower, for the first time really, and it made Tony panic. Steve tapped Tony on the shoulder and the two men swapped spots, Tony racing after Peter who had walked down to his room, and was staring at the room they had designed for him; tears threatening to spill over from his eyes.

"Hey kid, where you been?" Tony asked, and was made even more worried when Peter flinched at the words.

"School, because I'm a teenager, not a team member." Peter said, and Tony wanted to scream at him.

"Peter-"

"Mister Stark, please. Just…don't. I have to do a presentation at school soon, I need to head back."

"Peter, who spoke to you?"

"About what?"

"Not…coming back here."

"Friday, I had a message left on my phone."

"Can I listen to it?"

"I guess." Peter said, pulling up his message bank and handing the phone to Tony. Tony held the phone to his ear, and Peter saw Tony frown, before handing the phone back to Peter.

"Peter, it wasn't me, it wasn't any of us." Tony said, and dropped onto Peter's bed. "I don't…I like having you around, I'm not gonna get rid of you. Maybe you're not _officially_ a team member, but unofficially, the others and I, pretty much think of you as one."

Peter didn't say anything, he just stood there, in the doorway to his room.

"Peter?"

"I-I'm sorry…I shouldn't have…I just…"He was sucking in air, trying not to cry.

"Hey Peter, c'mere. Peter come on, please?" Tony asked, and Peter slowly moved over and sat on the bed besides Tony, and let the man hug him. Tony held tight to Peter, and let the boy cry.

"I died." Peter whispered, and Tony went still. "I died, I fell off a cliff…and died. I was sure that was it, after everything else, I would die because I fell off a cliff…I'm spiderman, I _don't fall._ "

Tony held Peter tight, letting the boy cry; rubbing his back as Peter's body shook from sobbing.

"Pete…Kid, you're fine, I promise; you're okay here. Safe, completely and totally. TYou're alive, and fine, not blown up. Alive and fine and not blown up." Tony whispered, more to himself, tightening his grip on Peter.

"M-Mister Stark…why would I be blown up?" Peter whispered, looking up at Tony, frowning.

"T-the lab, we were meant to be at…there was an attack an-"

"Was anyone hurt?" Peter asked, quietly.

"No…no, we arranged for it to be empty, in case we had to take some walkthrough photos or…something. We didn't want them there working with reporters wandering around, that's just begging for copyright or data theft, which…we try really hard to not let happen." Tony said, letting go of Peter and leaning against the wall, staying on the bed. Peter sat, slouched slightly, playing with the hem of his pants.

"So…why did they attack it?"

"We don't…know, to be honest. I'm going to chat to Steve, and Lang, since Lang was meant to be there as well, he _was_ going to be taking photos there but the lab he was touring before the one which was attacked, had an issue and he offered to stay back a day to help, so they likely didn't know he wasn't there."

"So he's alright?"

"Yeah kid, he's fine. His wife's upset as all hell because she wasn't aware of any of it, got the call about thirty seconds before he walked in the front door." Tony said, then added. "Cassie's fine, too."

Peter nodded, and let out a lone sniffle, before smiling.

"I'm glad…" He said, letting out a shakey breath as he looked at the alarm clock nearby. "I do…have a presentation…I wasn't lying about it."

"Oh! Course, I'll drop you off. Steve and Bucky…I think they would've gone to get you no matter what I said, to be honest."

"Doesn't l sound like them at all." Peter said, grinning. Tony rolled his eyes, and waited in the lounge for Peter to wash his face, before dropping him back off at school. As Tony pulled away, watching the school in his rear view mirror, he couldn't stop a thought from creeping into his head.

What if he was seen? Peter was already publicly known for helping him, for being his intern; it wouldn't be hard to track him, to find his school. Would…surely they wouldn't attack a school? Then again, they had already attacked a conference, and a public ceremony. It wasn't much of a stretch to consider an attack on a school.

"Sir, there is someone waiting at the tower to speak to you." Friday announced.

"Who?"

"I believe it may be Professor Lang, but I am unsure. Captain Rogers had let him into the lounge, he seemed to be in distress upon his arrival."

Tony didn't respond, he just drove. The tower seemed further away than normal, but he was finally stepping out of the elevator, and he saw Lang sitting on one of the couches. He was clutching a cup of coffee, but was staring past it, not drinking; his face was white, and Tony saw that the man must have been crying. He looked up and saw Tony, but didn't say anything.

"Lang?" Tony asked, and saw Bucky to the side. The man was frowning, staring down the hall to the bedrooms, waiting. Finally, Steve emerged and joined them.

"Steve, what the hell is going on?" Tony asked.

"There was…a threat made, to Lang's daughter. We believe someone might know where she goes to school. She's been pulled out, and Natasha and Clint have taken her to SHIELD to keep an eye on her. We originally only asked Natasha to go but…Clint argued he was going whether I liked it or not." Steve said, shrugging. "What happened with the lab?"

Tony explained what he'd explained to Peter, about the lab being empty, just in case; Steve seemed pleased by the precautions Tony had taken, and a little concerned at the same time.

"We want to sweep Lang's house." Bucky said, from the kitchen. "He agrees it's a good idea, but…"

"He has research papers there, from his students, some of his own; stuff that might be patented shortly." Steve finished, and Bucky nodded. Tony frowned and sat on a couch to the side of lounge, and tried to think. He knew Steve and Bucky were frustrated by it, he was as well but he also understood Scott's hesitation about them being in the house.

"So, no police then, and I'd prefer to keep SHIELD as far from this as possible, to be honest. They're…as much as they want to help, research is a weakness for them. What if we sweep the house, check it out ourselves?"

Steve nodded, and looked at Lang, who nodded gently, still staring at his coffee cup.

"We'd need to figure out what to look for, maybe some kind of scanners? Then…I'll speak to Pepper, see if we can't arrange a new place for Lang and his kid to stay. Where though? And we'd need to keep it safe; alarm system, cameras, whatever we can do. Maybe security, at least for a couple of days." Tony rambled, Friday keeping a list going as he spoke. "Hmm…should we monitor Cassie's school as well? See if they make an attempt? What kind of threat? Death, kidnapping?"

"They…said they'd give her to…."Scott whispered, voice shaking. "It said they'd give her to Loki. They didn't ask for anything to stop it, just said that they would give her to Loki as a…"

"Loki?" Bucky asked, eyebrow raised. Scott nodded, tightening his grip on the cup.

"But…why?" Tony asked.

"Who cares? Torture, death, slavery? I don't know!" Scott shouted, dropping his cup against the ground and gasping. It was so hard to breathe; why couldn't he just breathe? Tony moved over, and used the same technique Steve used on him when he was panicking; follow my breathing, match it, focus.

"Is Thor here?" Tony asked, and Bucky thought for a moment before nodding and setting off to wherever he thought Thor might be. He returned with Thor a moment later.

"Friend Tony, you asked for me?"

"Yeah Sparky, do you know where your brother is?"

"I believe so yes, I shall fetch him if you require? Trusting he is not too busy." Thor offered.

"It's…important." Tony said, looking at Scott, who looked even more terrified now.

"Of course, Friend Tony, I shall not take long." Thor said, and headed off. He had promised to take off of from the roof, or the landing bay; Tony was sick of fixing windows. As promised, it was barely five minutes before Thor walked back into the lounge, Loki behind him. Scott went stiff, keeping his eyes on the floor in front of him.

"Stark, I was busy, what do you require?" Loki asked, obviously not impressed. "Who is that?"

"Scott Lang, scientist, superhero and…right now, terrified someone is going to give his daughter to you."

"...Excuse me?" Loki cocked an eyebrow, and Thor frowned. "Why would I want a Midgardian girl?"

"A Midgardian _child._ Torture, death and slavery are his main worries. I'm doubting whoever made the threat has any way of making true on the promise but…it would be simple enough to make it appear that it's the case, if she went missing."

"I…see. Why is the threat being made to begin with?" Loki asked, lowering himself onto an armchair. Tony watched, and felt his phone buzz in his pocket.

 _Peter: Bomb found in school. Did not detonate. Police on way, nobody hurt._

Tony cursed and kicked the nearby coffee table. Scott jumped at the movement, and his eyes darted to Tony.

"Bastards, I was thinking about this just before; I knew this would happen. They found a bomb at Peter's school. I knew this would happen!'

"Your intern?" Lang asked, brows furrowed.

"That's the guy, alright, time to head out."

"Would you like any help from either of us?" Thor asked, ignoring the noise of irritation from Loki.

"…No, actually. Let's keep Loki out of the public eye. We'll ignore the threat, see if they make any others along the same lines, or if they branch out."

"Would it be…wise, to perhaps play along?" Loki tested, voice gentle, safe.

"Play along?" Scott asked, staring at the god.

"It would not prove difficult to spread rumours of ways to contact me. Perhaps whoever made the threat to your daughter would attempt this? If they believe I truly have taken the child, they may move ahead with whatever plan they have, if they have one, and perhaps provide clues to stopping them."

"That…actually, I like that idea." Tony said, standing up. "Twitter posts, word of mouth, false reports of Loki sightings. If you're 'seen' at the same spot often enough, someone might go there purposefully to find you…also, do you know how to sweep houses for attempted bombings?"

"…I can not say that I do, no."

"Damn, alright, chat to you later. Let's go super soldiers." Tony said, waving at Bucky and Steve.

They arrived at the school in record time; Steve tried not to think too much about what speed Tony must've been driving at. He was obviously upset. He also might try and through Steve out of the moving car.

"Afternoon gentlemen; thanks for coming along." A police officer said, greeting them with a quick wave, before leading them into the building to an open locker. "The bomb was discovered by a janitor, who was cleaning out the locker for a transfer student who came in a day earlier than planned. Admin error, nothing suspicious. Luckily it hadn't detonated, we weren't sure why but our guys thought you lot might want to look at it, it's a weird one apparently."

"Thanks very much, and thank you for getting all the students out." Steve said.

"Had someone trip the main fire alarm, got everyone out, said a fire had started in one of the storage rooms. Students were happy they were told to sign off early, parents are being contacted now, and plans being arranged for kids who need a lift home."

"Have any costs for taxis sent to me, would you? I'll take care of it, sucks being stuck at school waiting for a lift. Actually, I'll go chat to the admin about it, save you the hassle." Tony said, smiling at the officer who nodded, and went off with Steve and Bucky to further discuss the bomb. Steve wanted to speak to the janitor who had found it. Tony finished with the admin quickly, and headed outside, where he saw Peter being backed against a brick wall by a group of reporters, cameras flashing and microphones held out.

 _How was your trip overseas? How was the lab?_

 _Were you aware of the bombing? Were you there when it happened?_

 _Did you ever consider Tony Stark would leave you there?_

 _Would you have the money to fly yourself home?_

 _Have you considered ending your internship, after all of the attacks?_

"Peter!" Tony shouted, then ran, when he saw someone appear out of green light in front of Peter. The reporters scrambled backwards, staying safe from the green light, before seeing Loki. Loki quickly reached forward and grabbed Peter by the collar of his shirt, and lifted him from the ground.

"You know Scott Lang, yes?" Loki asked.

"Y-yes? Why? I've only met him a few times!" Peter said, scrambling; he wanted to pull away, but it would be a little strange if he was able to get away from Loki.

"I have been promised something, and I am curious as to who was going to deliver it. An odd thing to be promised, I am unsure what I would do with a Midgardian child but, I am also curiousa s to what the offerer wants in exchange. I hoped you would be a suitable replacement but, sadly it seems… _someone_ has become attached to you, no matter." Loki shrugged, and threw Peter to the side, where he crashed into Tony. Luckily, the man was able to somewhat catch Peter, though they did both fall to the ground. Tony looked up, holding tight to Peter, and saw that Loki was already gone.

"Im gonna kill him." Tony whispered, and let Peter move away, though Peter held tight to Tony's arm; he needed grounding. So did Tony, frankly.


	32. Chapter 32 - Winter Has Come

**Chapter 32**

 **Winter Has Come**

"Loki!" Tony shouted as he stepped out of the elevator, Peter beside him. "Loki, you two horned fuck, where are you?!"

"He is in one of the spare offices with Miss Nastasha, Sir. He has brought someone with him." Friday announced. "He would like to apologise to Peter in person, when the matter at hand is resolved."

"Just…god, dammit, alright. Does he want me?" Tony asked, letting Peter pull away and head over to the kitchen.

"I believe he would like your presence, sir."

"Go ahead Mister Stark, I'll work on something for everyone to eat when they're done." Peter said from the fridge as he rummaged for ingredients. "Will it be everyone or…"

"Got no idea, to be honest with you Peter. Maybe do something that's easy to make heaps of?" Tony suggested, shrugging at Peer, who shrugged back and grinned.

"Alright Mister Stark, good luck with…whatever it is that you need it for?"

Tony smiled at Peter and headed off, following Friday's directions to the empty office, where he found Natasha, Loki and a man sitting in a chair between them.

"Who's this?" Tony asked, looking at Natasha.

"He contacted Loki roughly twenty minutes after Loki was seen outside the school. Promised Loki Lang's kid, and said he'd work on getting Stark's kid if Loki could offer good payment. So, Loki teleported him here."

"That was…quick."

"Yes, he said it was an urgent matter; that he'd have to act soon to get the child." Loki said, looking the man up and down; Tony noticed for the first time that the man's hands were bound to the chair with odd looking rope.

"So…did you get Lang's kid? Because as a superhero, I don't approve of it."

"I did not." Loki said, rolling his eyes. "Whoever will clean my home now."

"Ah, why is that? Also, why were you even offering to give him a kid? What'd the kid do to you?"

"Money!" The man said, as if it was obvious. "Can you imagine what someone would want to pay? Especially a god!"

"…A god with no earth money?" Tony asked, and Loki nodded.

"N-no money?"

"I don't have any form of income, so, no."

"But…then…what…"

"What? What did I intend to do with the child? How did I intend to pay the person who brought them to me? Honestly I haven't got any clue; as I have no desire to have a child."

"I'd like to know _why_ people think you want one." Natasha said, glaring at the man.

"People…people have been talking about it for a few weeks, apparently some hot shot wants money in exchange for the kid so he can give em to Loki, figured I'd cut out the middle man."

"That's incredibly brave and incredibly stupid; good job." Tony said, whistling.

"I…suppose so. We…done here then?"

"Yes. The police were notified about you, and are here to escort you to the station." Natasha said, pulling the man to his feet, ignoring his sounds of shock.

"What?! I helped!"

" _After_ you were prepared to hand a child over to a literal god, known for being murder happy." Natasha said, and dragged the man away. "You're not in our good books, sorry."

The door shut behind them, and Tony turned as soon as the door clicked shut to glare at Loki, who was lowering himself into a plush office chair nearby.

"Stark, ho-"

"What the hell?!" Tony shouted, holding his arms above his head. "Why'd you do that to the kid?! He's fucking terrified!"

"Yes. I realize that, Stark. It worked didn't it? Now, I need to figure out how to apologi-" Loki's words were cut off by a thunderous noise from the ceiling, and Tony groaned.

"If that's my roof…"

"Sir, anomaly discovered on the tower roof. Bucky has gone to investigate."

"…Why Bucky?"

"I believe he wanted to race Captain Rogers to the roof, and after pushing Captain Rogers aside he yelled that Captain Rogers was a _punk bitch_ and headed out to the roof."

"….Okay."

Tony could only shake his head as he walked out with Loki to the lounge, wondering if they should go to the roof as well, when an unfamiliar voice startled him.

"Are either of my boys here?" A women's voice came from the hallway, as Bucky rounded the corner and came into the lounge with an older woman behind him.

"...Hello? Who are you? Were you on my roof?"

"Stark, would you do me a favour?" Loki asked, staring at the woman.

"…Really? After today? What do you want?"

"Would you tell Thor that our mother is here?"

Tony simply stood still, mouth slightly ajar as Loki took large steps and found his mother's figure, wrapping her in his arms.

"…F-Friday, where's Thor?"

"Thor is in the training room sir; he is with Peter and Captain Rogers."

"Awww why?! Shit! If they fuck with him as well they're all going under ice!" Tony shouted, turning and running; he used the emergency staircase, not in the mood to wait for the elevator. When he ran into the training room he found the three people; Steve off to the side, watching as Peter was busy scolding Thor.

"You can't just do that! That's cheating!" Peter shouted, arms flailing around as he spoke.

"But…young Pe- Friend Stark! What is wrong?"

"Umm…wait, is Peter telling you off?" Tony asked, the situation finally registering in his mind. "This is brilliant, please keep going. Steve are you letting this happen?"

"Yes, I want my shield back." Steve said, then pointed towards the ceiling when Tony frowned; he looked up, and saw the circular shield stuck to the ceiling with a large web.

"Okay well…I really kinda need Thor in the lounge, please."

"Of course Friend Stark! Let us go!" Thor boomed, smiling at Stark and hurrying after the man. "Truly you have my thanks, the young insectoid is quite frightening when he wants to be. What do you need me for?"

"You have a guest. Tony said, as they stepped into the lounge, and the woman looked up at them from couch she was sitting on.

"M-mother?" Thor asked, staring at the woman. "Why are you here? Has something happened?"

"Oh my darling boys!" She shouted, wrapping her arms around Thor. "The scryers saw magic, such old magic, I had to check you were both okay."

"…Magic?" Thor asked, voice low, glancing at Tony; the man had gone white, thinking of Peter.

"Yes my darling; old powerful magic, your father…was never comfortable speaking of it, the books on the subject were hidden deep in the libraries."

"I wonder why…" Loki said, grinning, and laughing when his mother smacked him on the shoulder. "Mother!"

"Tony, I regret to inform you the tower has a pest problem." Steve said from behind them, and the group turned to see Steve, holding Peter upside down by the foot. "It's okay, I caught one; here, you can test it for weaknesses. Who's that?"

"Huh? Oh, Steve, this is Loki and Thor's mother." Tony said, nodding towards the lady.

"…Uhhh….huh. Well, nice to meet you Ma'am." Steve said, ducking back as Peter used his free foot to kick at Steve's head, just missing the man's jaw. "Hey! Don't make me stick you under a glass."

"Stark, have you any beverages my Mother could have?' Loki asked, standing up from the seat he'd been dragged into by his family.

"Loki I told you, I am here on-"

"Wait, Thor and Loki's Mom?" Peter asked, spinning gently in Steve's grip.

"Yes young insectoid!"

"I'm gonna be so mad if she tries to lightning me as well." Peter grumbled, and Tony laughed, then broke into mad cackles when Peter managed to connect his foot to Steve's chin and the super soldier dropped him onto the floor with a thud.

"Don't break my intern!"

"He tried breaking my face!"

"What's this about lightning?" Frigga asked, sitting straighter in the couch, staring at Peter.

"Oh, uhh…." Peter stammered, and Tony stepped over to him, helping him up to his feet but not letting go of his arm.

"Peter, you don't have to say anything" Tony said softly, and Peter nodded.

"Yeah, I know. It…it just seems important you know?" Peter whispered back to Tony, who nodded. Tony moved Peter over to an armchair and made him sit, before going to the kitchen to help Bruce, who was busy reheating whatever Peter had made for them all.

"The…I saw him, I think; old man with an eyepatch." Peter began and Frigga sat as straight as possible, clutching her sons with each of her hands, holding tight. "I…fell? Got pushed? I'm not really sure but my body fell off a cliff, and landed…somewhere, but I actually fell, and was in Norway, on a cliff near the ocean, with the guy. He was…telling me, that it was time to go and he was going to help me leave; I yelled at him, I yelled about it all being unfair, that it was the fault of…that doesn't matter. I was…mad, and then I realized that there was this…massive storm above us, with all this green lightning, and it hit me, then I woke up inside some weird little building." Peter said, speaking quickly, only breathing when the words stopped coming out of his mouth.

"Rellgir." Loki said, and Thor nodded. Frigga looked at them both, frowning.

"Rellgir? What of him?" She asked.

"He is the one who caused our friend to fall from the cliff. Young Peter was there to assist another member of the team, who has some difficulties with the cold. Rellgir was…determined to convince me that Peter should not be there, saying that Peter was a child; I suppose to him, Peter is a child. However, anybody who has known Peter for any length of time would know that it isn't true."

"Hrmph." She said simply, and stood up. "And what of him now?"

"He still lives, Mother." Loki said, smiling at her. "He remains with the others. We were unsure how to proceed, and hoped you'd have an idea. It is not a simple thing, to remove a council member."

"No, my loves, it is not." She said, nodding, then looking at Peter. "However; it will be done, and it shall be done with the backing of your ancestors." She said, and with a flash of golden light, she was gone.

"Oh, well. I almost feel bad for Rellgir now." Loki said, and Thor grinned.

"Almost, of course, Brother?"

"Of course."

"So…I have to say, your Mum is terrifying." Tony said, and the two men broke into laughter.

"That she is, Friend Tony." Thor said, grinning. "She is incredibly powerful, and brave, but she is the most loving person you will ever meet."

"Idunno guys, you ever met Aunt May?" Tony asked, grinning at Peter, who was busy trying to hide his face. "Oh man, we definitely need to invite her over one day."

"Lunch is ready, everyone come get something." Bruce said, pulling everyone's attention away from Peter. The lunch was a simple soup, full of vegetables and spice. Peter had left it to Bruce to watch while the soup simmered, it shouldn't take long to finish.

"Anyone seen Bucky?" Bruce asked, as Steve came into the lounge from the elevator. "He'll miss out on food."

"He's watching some training stuff that SHIELD lady gave him. I'll take some to him." Steve said, accepting two bowls from Bruce.

"What videos?" Tony asked, sitting on a dining chair.

"Ugh. Some kinda…team building stuff? How to get along better with your team, understanding your team members, all kinds of rubbish. She said it'd make SHIELD happy for him to finish them and there's only like ten of them I think, and a guidebook? He's not particularly happy about them but, if it makes SHIELD happier with him, I guess it's worth it." Steve said, shrugging and disappearing down towards Bucky's room with the soup.

"I really, really don't like that woman." Clint said, growling at his soup. "She was…nasty, earlier. I was watching the news, and they were talking about the bombs in that lab…kept making comment about it being a shame if people got left there. The way she was talking about it though…"

"Like saying it enough will make it happen." Natahasa finished for him and Clint nodded, scooping another spoonful of hot soup into his mouth.

"She suggested videos for me as well…" Clint said, staring at his bowl. "Kept saying it would be good for her to report I'd watched them…that it'd help after the whole heli-carrier thing but…"

"If Fury doesn't give a shit, either should you." Tony said, frowning at Clint. "Are you meant to see her again?"

Clint nodded, keeping his mouth busy with more soup.

"Maybe we should see if they'll swap you to someone else. She's obviously biased against you and Barnes." Tony said, and Natasha nodded; she was glad to hear the words from someone else.

"And your intern." Bruce said, nodding towards Peter.

"And my intern." Tony agreed, glaring at the ceiling.

Tony heard from Lang that night through an email; he was flying out to revisit the lab and had invited Tony. Tony mulled over the offer, wondering if it was a good idea; he decided it was. He also decided he should take someone else along, who might notice other details he might skip over. He was torn between Clint and Steve but learnt that Clint was off on a surveillance mission with Natasha and they had both left during the night so he asked Steve, who was happy to go along. Tony downstairs in the morning with his luggage, ready to go; he found Steve in the kitchen with a sizeable bruise on the side of his face.

"Uhh…"

"No, Tony." Steve said, shaking his head in warning. Tony accepted it unhappily, but couldn't ignore it for long, so when they arrived at the airport and settled into the jet, he brought it up.

"Tony, I don't want to discuss it."

"Don't want to discuss the bruise or the cause?"

"Tony-"

"Promise, no snarkiness."

"I worry you might explode if you stopped yourself." Steve said, grinning softly at Tony for a moment before sighing and rubbing the bruise.

"Is Barnes alright? Was it him?"

"It…yeah, it was, early this morning. Friday said he was still awake and I was worried it was a nightmare, even though it's been a little while since he's had one. He was…watching those training videos, well rewatching them."

"Wait, rewatching?"

"Friday said it was his third viewing of that video, and he'd started again from the beginning. I don't…I told him he should sleep and he told me to get lost and to lay off…"

Tony swished his glass of lemonade in neat circles, frowning as he thought.

"It's…probably nothing…I just…"

"No, Steve. If it feels off it's worth looking into, even if we just watch him a little closer. Would you be okay with Friday monitoring him?"

"Not…overly but, it'd be better than me hovering over him."

"Alright, just tell me if you want it to stop."

Steve nodded, and fell into a restless sleep a few minutes later. Tony just stared ahead, letting the ice in his glass melt until all that was left was a room temperature glass of weak lemonade.

They arrived at the airport and were quickly shuttled to the lab by a driver who worked as part of Stark Industries, to hopefully avoid any information leaks about their arrival. Lang was already there and greeted them with a tiny wave.

"Lang!" Tony shouted at the man, keen to see him, even if Lang looked ready to drop dead from tiredom. "What's up, you look ready to drop!"

"Tony!" Steve shouted at the rudeness, while Lang laughed.

"Good to see you as well Tony, and Steven. Glad you both decided to come." Lang said, and motioned for them to follow him down a long hallway. Tony liked the lab; it wasn't white and sterile like most. It was an off white for the walls, with neat little tiles running along the top of the walls. The tiles alternated between a light green and a light blue, which made the place feel almost like a beach house.

"It's so different to the SHIELD labs…"Steve said, looking at the framed pictures of staff that hung on the walls; pictures of young and old scientists, smiling wide at the cameras.

"Nice, isn't it?" Lang said, smiling. "They're all super welcoming too, it's…nice. Feels so much less business focused than other labs."

He pushed a door open, and lead both men into a small break room where they all made a cup of coffee in blue cardboard cups, then headed off down the hallway, and up a flight of stairs to the left. Steve could smell charred wood before they saw it; it was impossible to miss. One end of the small upper floor was pristine, then there was a harsh line in the center of the floor, where the other end was a mess of rubble and charred building.

Tony and Steve looked at the mess; Tony let out a low whistle, before heading off to walk through the mess.

"There's…a lot of damage, but it looks like it's mostly from fire?" Steve pointed out, walking around the opposite way to Tony, checking over the furniture and bits of walls that remained.

"Yeah. The investigators said they think it was more incendiary, than simply force based. It was still burning when emergency services arrived."

"How long did they take to arrive?"

"Roughly twenty minutes, due to a storm in the area. A major road was closed, and the other way here is mostly bendy roads, which aren't very safe in a major storm at night." Lang explained, watching the two men walk around. "They knew the building was empty, so they didn't want to risk going faster than they needed to, since it would be mostly structural damage."

"What about the work of people here?" Steve asked. "Was any work damaged?"

"Well, no. We don't know if it was intentional or not but, this floor used to be divided into two lab rooms, the big dividing line between the damaged and not damaged area was the central wall. They were designed to be pretty foolproof, in case an experiment went wrong but…we don't know if the attacker was aware of this or not."

"Then why plant a bomb up here?" Steve asked, glaring at the rubble, as if he was demanding answers from it.

"I was meant to be up here, with Tony; we were going to take our photos here, for the fake press conference and whatever, since it's not used very often. It had been totally cleaned down by the staff, to make sure we wouldn't find anything hazardous while we were here, especially since we would've had public reporters here."

Steve nodded, and looked at Tony when he heard the other mans phone ring. Tony grumbled and answered the phone, then Steve saw the man go white, and turn to face him.

"Repeat." Tony said, and Steve realized the man had put the phone on speaker.

"Agent Barnes has slipped into the Winter Soldier. The only person at the Tower is Peter Parker." Friday said over the phone, and both men could only stare at the now silent device.


	33. Chapter 33 - Failed Words

**Chapter 33**

 **Failed Words**

 _/Mission begin_

 _/Confirm_

 _/Asset active_

 _/Confirm_

 _/Target set: Peter Parker_

 _/Position: Intern of Stark Family_

 _/Relationship to Stark Family: Unimportant_

 _/Mission: Kill_

 _/Mission accept_

 _/Confirm_

Cold water flooded his lungs when he woke with a start from his slumber; he'd slipped under the water in his bath, and had breathed in a large amount of the now cold water. He pulled his body from the water, and found a towel.

 _/Dry_

 _/Outfit_

 _/Weaponry_

 _/Tasks Complete_

He kept his guns in good order, always; it was imperative that all weaponry and gear be kept at optimal performance at all times. The room he found himself in seemed to be a large bathroom, with the tub of cold water in the middle of the room. He found the door easily and stepped into a hallway, where his eyes adjusted quickly to the dimmed lighting. He could hear voices down the hallway and quickly moved towards them, gun raised and ready; the small media room was empty, a screen had been left running. A grown man dressed as an elf was on the screen, talking excitedly to someone else on screen.

/Mission relation: zero

 _/Mission task: find target_

 _/Find Target_

 _/Neutralise_

He swept the remainder of the floor, and found no one, so he moved to the floor below. He worked down the building, finding nobody on any of the floors of the personal areas.

/Mission status: Target not found

/Assess Situation

 _\Target considers location safe haven. Wait for target to return to safe area. Many do not remain in safe havens at all times.\_

 _/Wait for Target_

 _/Confirm_

He found himself a quiet corner, where he could stand, and monitor the elevator that lead to the floor he was on. He waited a total of two hours; sweeping the building again every half hour before returning to the spot. He returned after his fourth sweep, and after a minute noticed noises down another hallway. The noises were new.

 _/Mission: Target possibly located._

 _\Target must have returned during the sweep.\_

 _/Find Target_

 _/Neutralise_

Slowly he moved down this hallway, until he was in a room with couches and a large screen; a kitchen was to the side, with another hallway leading off to numerous doors. The room is dark, and there is a figure sitting on one of the couches, facing away from it. He moves closer and assesses the figure; they are small, likely only in their teens. An easy target; easy targets come with little reward from handlers. They expect the jobs to be done. They are not to be celebrated.

He continued to approach, and stopped behind the couch, raising his gun; the barrel is aimed for the back of the head. An easy shot. Simple execution.

 _/Mission: target found_

 _/Take shot_

 _/Neautralise_

The figure sat up suddenly, and turned to face him; staring at the man in surprise.

"Bucky?" The target asked him. "It's me, Peter. Are you okay?"

 _/Mission: Target confirmed_

 _/Take shot_

 _/Neautralise_

He pulled his finger back on the trigger, and fired; the target jumped away from the couch, and flipped backwards to avoid the shot. He lands on the coffee table, and stares at the asset again.

"Hey!" The target shouted, dodging another shot. "Bucky, what the hell!?"

Another shot, the target jumps away; he landed on his hands, and easily flipped himself up to his feet.

"Friday, what's going on?!"

"Mister Parker; I believe Agent Barnes has slipped into his Winter Soldier persona." Friday said. The strange voice did not startle him; he could not afford to be unnerved so close to the target.

"Do you know why?"

"The cause is unknown. Mister Stark has been alerted."

"Fat lot of good that is; he's in another country!" The target shouted as he darted backwards, avoiding a shot, before running towards the elevator nearby. The metal doors slid shut, but were easily pulled open with his robotic arm; the elevator shaft was empty, but he could hear movement below, metal on metal. He jumped forward, and let himself fall through the shaft, where he eventually landed on the elevator roof with a heavy thud. The target inside the elevator let out a yelp, and left the elevator when the doors slid open on the next floor. The hatch door on the top of the elevator was easy to pry open; he followed the sound of footsteps, and found the target. The boy was standing behind a glass wall, in what looked like a laboratory.

The boy's mouth was moving rapidly, as if speaking to someone. He was alone in the room, still an easy target. The glass proved tough, and it took numerous strikes with his metal arm to shatter it, but it eventually broke.

"-oh my god!" The boy was shouting.

"Peter!" A man's voice came from somewhere, though there was no man in the room. "Where are you? What's happening?"

"L-lab. I thought the glass would be strong enough…oh my god he got in…Bucky, it's Peter!" The boy shouted, staring at him with wide, red eyes. "Come on this isn't fair…I'm sick! I can't fig-"

The boy began to cough and he dropped; his body shook horribly, as he knelt on the floor.

"Barnes? Dude, I-I don't know what happened but…it's Peter. You like Peter!" The man came from the ceiling again. "It's me you don't like! Steve not no-"

"Tony sorry, it- Nat…Nat called. The lady whose been seeing Bucky and Clint…that…therapist with the really pink lipstick…She's dead." A new voice said.

"Good!" The old voice growled.

"No. She died ages ago. Shot to death outside her house, unloading groceries."

"So…who the hell has been speaking to Bucky and Clint?!"

 _/Mission: Neutralise target_

 _/Mission: Target in range_

 _\Target hindered by pain\_

 _/Mission: Target pain unimportant_

 _/Take aim_

 _/Take shot_

 _\Target is in distress.\_

 _Emotion recognized: concern_

 _/Target pain is unimportant_

 _/Concern is emotive. Emotive actions are punished._

 _\No punishment. Emotive action is not being acted upon. Unwanted. No punishment.\_

 _/Mission: Neutralise target. Return to base._

 _/Emotion recognized: concern_

 _/Cause: Target pain_

 _/Correct pain_

 _/Accept punishment_

It was difficult, to force himself to drop his weapon, and step over it towards the boy. The boy gasped when he grabbed his shoulders, and he tried to scramble away, but was unable to do so.

"You are hurt." The asset said; speaking hurt so much.

"I-I…just can't breathe…coughing."

That made him frown. How could that be remedied?

"How to stop?" He asked, and the boy stared at him, his body shaking.

"I…I think there's cough syrup in the fridge upstairs. That usually hel-" The boy was saying, before being interrupted by another series of painful coughs.

Upstairs. How to get to the kitchen? Elevator?

He reaches down, and grabs the boy by the waist.

"Direct." He says, and the boy follows the instruction. He directed him how to get to the elevator, and the way to get back upstairs to the room the attack began in.

He finds the fridge, and places the boy on a couch before going to the fridge and finding the small glass bottle of thick red liquid. The instructions are helpful, and he measured out the correct amount into the lid before passing it to the boy, who swallows it without instruction. They wait, and eventually the strange liquid seems to help, as the boy is no longer struggling to breathe, and he has not coughed in five and a half minutes. An improvement.

 _/Mission: Target remains alive_

 _/Mission: Fix this_

 _/Neautralise_

 _\Main weapon downstairs\_

 _/Mission: Bare handed kill possible_

"I hate being sick. I didn't even know I _could_ get sick." The boy said.

"Base human body gets sick; due to variety of reasons." He said, staring at the boy.

"What about you?"

"Not base body."

"Huh, guess not."

 _Emotion recognized: safety_

 _\The target feels safe around the asset. Unusual.\_

"So…" The target mumbled then he has shrunk back into his seat when the asset looks back at him.

 _\Not safe, but not scared. Unusual.\_

"You are selected target."

"Why?'

"Unknown; reason not given. Only mission."

"So why'd you stop?"

"Unknown."

"But…I don't really understand Bu- wait, is Bucky your name right now? Barnes? Winter?"

"Asset."

 _\The target is frowning. He does not like that word. Interesting.\_

 _/Mission: Free thoughts are punished_

 _\No. Accident. No punishment.\_

The target jumps from the chair suddenly, and stands on his feet, moments before a man drops from a vent in the ceiling; he drops onto his feet, and stands straight quickly, a weapon aimed at the asset.

"Clint!" The target shouts; he is smiling.

 _\Emotion recognized: relief_

 _\Clint must be a friend of the target.\_

 _/Mission: Name recognizable_

 _/Mission: Fellow Asset_

 _/Activation words must be used_

He stands straight, and focuses on the other mans eyes.

"Birdnest. Perch. Control. Airborne. Flight." He says, and feels something cut into his flesh shoulder. He waits, a moment, then his body shakes with a shock; he falls to the floor, and bites into his lower lip to stop himself crying out. Noise makes it worse.

"Clint!" The target shouted; his body stops shaking, the pain has stopped. So quickly. Why? He waits for it to begin again. It doesn't.

"You okay kid?" Clint asked Peter, checking over the young boy.

"Yeah…fine…what did you do to him?"

"Shock arrow; glad Stark ended up making me a couple to test. Can't say we'll use them often but, I'm glad they worked. Brilliant time for a test run, christ."

"I don't…I don't know what happened! He was okay when I left, he was having a bath."

"Pete- Peter! Calm down kid, it's alright. Nat's on her way here as well, she's arranging the trip back for Stark and Steve, we can discuss everything when they're back if you want, or over skype if you'd rather do it sooner."

"…Skype, I think. Mister Rogers might have some ideas of how to help."

Clint set Peter up on the couch with a blanket and a hot chocolate, made himself a coffee before texting Steve to get ready for Skype. The two men were sitting on the jet, looking tired as hell; they sighed when they saw peter on the screen, sitting near Clint, sipping from his cup.

"Did you have to give him the hawkeye cup?" Tony asked, and Clint grinned. Peter didn't seem to notice.

"Okay, Peter, what happened? What do you remember?" Steve asked.

"Not…really much. I went out; Mister Barnes seemed to be upset, and said he was going to have a bath, so I decided to go out and get some stuff for dinner late-"

"A bath?" Steve asked, narrowing his eyes. "Bucky doesn't take baths."

"O-oh, really?"

Steve nodded, once. "HYDRA memories; doesn't like being in bath tubs, showers only became tolerable recently. He would take them because he had to but…he hated them, so much."

"I don't know much else. I couldn't find him when I got back so I guessed he was still in the bath, then he was behind me with a gun out. I don't…I don't think he knows who I am, besides being Peter."

Tony and Steve both frowned.

"So he doesn't know you're enhanced, at all?" Steve asked.

"I don't think so."

"That is…weird." Tony said, lost for words. "How is he now?"

Clint looked sheepish, and slowly held up the arrow he had used earlier.

"Clint!" Tony shouted. "You did not!"

"How else was I meant to take him down?!" Clint said, putting the arrow down. "He's sitting on the floor, leaning on the kitchen cupboards. He's alive, probably not very happy with me though."

"Well, that won't be much of a change to normal then." Tony said, grinning for a brief moment before frowning again. "We need to figure out what triggered it. If his behavior was already changing, since Steve said Barnes doesn't like baths, it might've had happened earlier."

"We could check security footage, but I don't think Friday films the bedrooms." Clint said.

"She only films Bruce and Natasha, since they asked. We were going to alter it to monitor Bucky but…it seems like the change might have happened before we discussed it."

"Why were you discussing it?"

"Steve was worried about those training videos Barnes was watching, said he's been easier to piss off than normal."

"Hmmm." Clint said, leaning back and looking at the ceiling. He blinked suddenly, and sat upright. "Shit. That's what he was doing."

"What?"

"He was…saying words to me earlier, like they should mean something to me."

"Activation words maybe?" Steve suggested, Tony nodded.

"Maybe. I haven't watched any of my videos because I don't care what the quacks at SHIELD think about me."

"Hmm, would you give Friday access to your SHIELD systems, so she can scan the videos? If we scan them, we might find something. What were the words?"

"Birdnest. Perch. Control. Airborne. Flight." A voice came from behind them; they turned to see Bucky – or rather, Winter – standing there, leaning against the dining table. "Assigned words."

"Clint, Peter?" Natasha's voice came from the elevator as the doors slid open, and the redhead walked in. Her face was red, and she was breathing heavily. "You two okay?"

"Just dandy." Clint said, waving at her. Peter smiled and gave a small wave.

"Good, that'll calm Bruce down, he was pretty upset when he heard what had happened. Friday sent us all a text warning, Clint was the closest to the tower; we had flown back separately."

"Oh, why?" Peter asked.

"…Long story; the mission didn't go well." Clint said, shrugging at Natasha. She replied with a nod before moving her gaze to the assassin standing nearby, leaning against the table.

"Well, who are you then?" She asked, but the man simply stared at her.

"He said he was the asset, earlier; he doesn't seem to know who I am besides being Peter."

"He doesn't know anything about what Peter can do, which is probably for the better." Clint said, and Natasha pressed her lips together in a thin line.

"What was the trigger?" She asked.

"We aren't sure." Steve said from the TV screen. "We aren't sure when it happened; Peter said Bucky was having a bath earlier."

Natasha's eyes went wide, and she stared at the long haired man, taking in the sight of him. He was a frenzied mess of tangled hair, and scratches up his neck where fingernails had attacked the skin.

"Barnes, your nails are long." She said; the man just stared.

"I am beginning to analyse the training videos of Agent Barton; it shall not take long. I am unable to access the videos for Agent Barnes. The videos no longer exist in the system." Friday said to the room.

"Huh." Tony said. "Friday, see if you can find them, or anything relating to them."

"Yes, boss. T'Challa has been contacted and is prepared for the team's arrival."

"Good stuff; now we just gotta get Barnes there."

"Is Loki still around?" Clint asked. "He could probably teleport, or at least magically coma the guy until we can get him there. An attack in a jet is a risk, and I don't want to be there if it happens."

"No." He said without thinking, and they all looked at him.

"No?" Steve asked, staring at Bucky through the screen.

"No flight." He said. "Can not move from target location."

"What is the target location?" Tony asked him.

"The current location of Peter Parker."

"…Alright." Tony said, coughing as he spoke. "Why Peter?"

"Selected target."

"Okay, and who selected him?"

"Unknown."

"Make a guess."

"Negative."

"What do you mean negative?! Tell me!"

He reached up and grabbed his head; his fingertips dug into the skin, his nails threatening to draw blood as he tried to think.

"Oh uh, I didn't…I didn't mean to break him…" He could hear the man talking; Stark.

"Barnes?" Someone was asking, saying his name, what they thought his name was; a female voice. The redhead.

"Handler…unknown…" He managed to say through gritted teeth.

"Rendezvous point?" The redhead asked.

"Negative; to remain here after task is complete."

"…Okay…" Stark, again. "Okay, okay. So, if Peter leaves, do you have to follow?"

"Positive."

"Alright then, well Peter has to go overseas tomorrow. Because well, I forget to tell him what's going on so, be on the jet at ten in the morning." Tony said, and the call died.

The group kept an eye on Bucky while they waited for Tony and Steve to arrive back at the tower; the remainder of the day was spent planning their trip. Bucky, or Winter, sat in the corner of his room, staring into nothing, trying to figure out why his head ached so much.

 _ **Thank you SongNoFound! This is the next chapter, ready to roll!**_


	34. Chapter 34 - He Can't Swim

**Chapter 34**

 **Did He Forget That He Can't Swim?**

"Stark, what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?" T'Challa asked, grinning ear to ear as he waved to the group as they exited the jet.

"We have an issue." Tony said immediately, stepping forward to shake the man's hand.

"And it is?" T'Challa asked, frowning. "Come, we shall walk and talk."

"Lead the way your highness." Tony said, and T'Challa nodded. The group followed a little behind, as Tony walked alongside the man who had greeted them so warmly.

"What's the iss-"

"It's Barnes."

"Is it the triggers? We were confide-"

"Yes. No. Sorry, I'm not meaning to be rude and cut you off it's just that he tried to kill Peter yesterday because someone gave him new orders and new triggers and everything is a bit of a mess now." Tony said without a breath between words, sucking in air once the word vomit had stopped.

"I see, my friend. Come, we shall begin the process as soon as possible. Has he been an issue today?"

"No he…seems to kind of recognize Peter? The kid was having a mad coughing fit yesterday during the attack, and Barnes stopped to make sure the kid could breathe and everything…I'm a little lost. It's not a feeling I like."

"I understand completely. Bring Mister Barnes to the medical bay, we shall begin immediately and try to discover what the cause of this is. The rest of you may wander the palace, and city, if you wish; the procedure may take some time."

"We all have communicators, so let us know if anything happens, please." Natasha said, and T'Challa nodded. He lead Tony and Bucky to medical, while the others headed the other way. Bucky took a few steps, then collapsed to his knees; his body protested the movement, trying to pull him the opposite direction.

"Barnes! What's going on?!" Tony asked, dropping beside the man. Bucky was shaking, fingers digging into his upper arms, trying to ignore the orders his head was shouting at him. "T'Challa, what's happening?!"

"This did not occur during his last visit." T'Challa said, frowning.

"Steve! He's your friend! Figure something out!" Tony shouted, staring at Steve. Steve moved over, having been in conversation with Bruce, and dropped next to Bucky.

"Bucky, what's wrong?" Steve asked, leaning close to his friend. "What do you need?"

"T-T…" Bucky tried to say, but it hurt to move his mouth; his entire body felt tight, like it was fighting against him.

"T? Tony? T'Challa?" Steve rattled off, then looked at Tony with wide eyes. "Target!"

Bucky gave a single hard nod.

"Steve you fucking genius!" Tony shouted, laughing as he sat on the floor, rubbing his face with his hands. "The target, Peter, dammit. What do you need, Barnes? Would it help if Peter came along?"

Another single nod. A weird look from Steve, at Tony.

"Alrighty! Come on kid." Tony said, and Peter moved over to them. Bucky was able to stand, with some help from Steve, and the group headed off to medical. There was a medical room separate from the rest of the medical area, a more private room, which they ended up using for Bucky.

Peter sat in a chair in the corner of the room, reading a book, while T'Challa and a doctor spoke to Bucky and gave him a thorough check up. It wasn't easy; the first ten minutes were mostly Bucky panicking at the sight of a doctor, and wanting to escape. Once the doctor had removed their white coat and worn their regular clothing, Bucky was much calmer. Peter didn't even look up from his book, he seemed perfectly happy over in the corner.

"Hey Tony." Steve said, walking over to Tony, who was looking at the scene from outside the room, through the glass wall.

"Heya Steve, did you need anything?"

"Um, are you alright?"

"Fine, just a little freaked out I guess."

"No I mean, you just…accepted, that Peter had to be near Bucky. You suggested it. I figured…you know…"

"What?"

"That you'd be beating Bucky's head into the floor right about now."

"Steve." Tony said, pausing and sucking in a deep breath. "I know Barnes isn't himself, right now. I know he's probably in a lot of pain, but if he fucking _touches_ that kid, I will end him. No suit; I will create my own super serum and I will use it on myself and I will fucking _end him._ "

"Thanks, Tony." Steve said, giving a small nod to Tony before turning and heading off into the palace. He hoped he didn't need to say anything else, he hoped the rest of it was clear enough.

 _Thank you for helping him._

 _Thank you for helping me._

 _Thank you for keeping my friend safe._

 _Thank you for understanding._

Tony rested his forehead against the glass wall, and let the glass frost over, hiding those in the room. He could still hear them in the room, as the audio feed hadn't turned off. He reached over to turn it off, when Bucky spoke.

"What are you reading?" He asked; his voice was robotic, monotonous.

"A few things. I'm reading a book called The Woman in Black, and some some stuff from a local writer. I have to pick one to write about for school."

"Which one do you like?"

"Either, to be honest. I guess I haven't got the right frame of mind for them."

"Read them."

"…I have."

"To me."

"Oh! Sure. Why not."

Tony slipped into the room, hoping neither of them noticed him, and sat in a chair to the side, watching as Peter read from the book he was holding, Bucky staring at him intently. He closed his eyes, and listened to Peter talk. He drifted, not quite sleeping, but losing track of his thoughts, as if he wanted to sleep.

"…I did not look about me, though sometimes I glanced up into the great bowl of the night sky and at the constellations scattered there and the sight was comforting and calming to me… things in the heavens seemed still to be aright and unchanged. But nothing else was, within me or all around. I knew now that I had entered some hitherto unimagined - indeed, unbelieved-in - realm of consciousness, that coming to this place had already changed me and that there was no going back…"

 _No going back._

"Okay, that's a bit of the first one, I'll read this other one now, see what you think."

"Positive."

Drifting again, Tony thought a little about lots of different things. Should he tell May about what happened? Would May kill him? Would May kill Bucky? She'd probably at least try; to answer both questions. How could they predict the next bomb? Would there be more? Why were they happening? Nobody had claimed responsibility yet.

"…And so, I found his neck with my hands, and tried to ignore how much they didn't shake at the movement. I was becoming too used to this, too used to what I was becoming. I couldn't avoid it, though, so many people counted on me now, to stop this terror. It was unfair, to the very tip of the letter r that ended the word; why was this my responsibility? Why was it my job to help these people? I tried to ignore thinking about it, because the same thoughts always crept back; I truly, with my entire being, hated the people who relied on me…"

Tony's eyes ached now that they were shut; he hadn't realized how heavy they were. He didn't move from the chair, he had to stay in case Bucky made a move for Peter. Hopefully there was plenty of warning, as Tony's body felt incredibly heavy and slow. He continued to listen to Peter read out loud.

"…I never did like coffee; always too bitter, too hot. So, I wasn't very impressed when I found myself sitting in a coffee shop in an area of the city I could never afford to live. The boy who made my coffee was young, with dark brown hair and eyes that reminded me of a puppy after it had been kicked. He was kind, though I imagined that would change later; he didn't seem to know who I was at the time. He didn't seem to match the nervous personality in his file; perhaps he was simply good at hiding it. I would wait, until he left for the night, and I would follow him…"

Peter looked up to see Bucky asleep in the hospital bed and Tony asleep in an armchair in the corner, squished into an uncomfortable ball. He climbed out of his own chair, grabbed his belongings from the floor and quietly slipped out of the room. The palace hallways were empty, and quiet; it was late now, close to midnight by his guess. He was thankful for some quiet, the day had been so long, it was nice to let himself relax. Which is what made him frown; it seemed to be dangerous now, to relax, it seemed to spur the universe into acting out against him. Shuri found him a little later, sitting on top of one of the railing on a balcony, legs swinging out in the open air as he looked out at the landscape.

"Can you not sleep?" She asked, stepping out onto the balcony. "I did not mean to startle you, if I did so."

"Nah Princess, heard you a mile away." Peter said, smiling at her; he'd turned his body around, his back to the landscape now. "Haven't really tried yet, only left the medical room a little while ago."

"How is Mister Barnes doing?"

"Alright, I suppose. Seemed to calm down after a little while, not sure what's gonna happen tomorrow though; probably nothing good. That seems to be life right now."

"Yes, it does seem to be the case. Some of the others have headed back to New York to investigate something for the…Director, I think they called him. The archer and the redheaded lady have gone, and I believe the Captain as well."

"Must be important if Steve went, considering what's going on with Bucky."

"You must sleep. Your eyelids are heavy; if you fall asleep on that rail I will not be able to stop you from falling." Shuri said, smiling at Peter, who smiled back.

Peter nodded, and said his goodnights to her, before heading off towards his room. It took a little while of tossing and turning beneath the luxurious bedding, but he finally fell asleep.

 _/Mission: Locate target_

 _/Inspect Location_

 _/Hospital room_

 _/Mission: Locate and destroy target_

 _/Confirm_

He lifted himself from the bed. It was soft, far softer than anything previous handlers had given him. He had no weapons; his hands would have to do this time. It was a maze, the building he was in. It was also strangely empty; it seemed void of people. It seemed pointless, all this walking about, looking for the target. Perhaps they had left him here? Not a course of action that he would have expected, though one that made sense.

"Ah! You are awake, the others are outside, if you need them." Someone said from behind him; a kind looking man in a coat that felt far too much like one a doctor would wear. He nodded at the man, and headed off in the direction he had gestured. It was quite a while longer before he managed to find a doorway which took him outside, and he saw a young lady speaking to a much older woman, who was holding an odd looking weapon; a spear, though it seemed a far upgrade from it's primitive name sake. There was movement near her, a young man with curly brown hair.

/Mission: Target located

/Mission: Destroy target

He ran, ignoring how sore and heavy his body was. The young woman saw him first, and shouted out for the target to move away; the young boy did not. The woman with the spear stepped in front of the young girl, weapon held at the ready.

"Bucky? You feeling bett- nope! Evidently not!" The boy said, jumping away from a punch. He landed on his feet, and flipped himself backwards, springing up from his hands and back to his feet, before taking off at a sprint. "Come on man, we're friends! Sure you're a little terrifying, and I'm not actually sure how much you like me but, we're friends! Lay off would you?!"

He threw himself forward, and managed to grab the boy, and both of them fell to the ground. The boy scrambled against his grip, as he tried to find the boy's neck. How was the child able to fight back to readily? His thoughts were interrupted when the boy's fist managed to get back his hands, and struck him in the jaw. The boy took the moment he was stunned to throw him aside, and clamber on top of him, to try and hold him down.

"Bucky, come on! We want to help." The boy was saying; he sounded desperate. "I-I know you don't like water, or baths and stuff. Either do I, so we're both gonna hate this. I'm…I'm really sorry."

He felt his body move, and with a lurch they both rolled to the side, and into a body of water he hadn't noticed. The water was cold; it seeped through his clothing and bit into his skin. He gasped at the sudden cold, and sucked a mouthful of water down his throat, which made him splutter. He flailed his arms, hoping to find the surface, when he felt something next to him; it was sinking further away from him, threatening to disappear into the water. He reached out, despite how badly he wanted to escape this water; something made him move. He had to get this boy out of the water. Why? Why did it matter? The boy could drown; it would solve his problem. Still, he fought to drag the boy to the surface, and pulled both of them up through the surface, to the fresh air, and dragged both of them to the edge of the water. Safe, solid ground is what he found, and he pulled the boy out with him, laying the boy on the ground, and collapsing beside him.

"Peter, you fucking suck." Bucky whispered, sucking in as much as air as he could.

"I absolutely do not." Peter whispered back, coughing on a laugh. "Wait, what did you call me?"

"Peter. Which is your name, if you forgot."

"Barnes!" A voice came from a distance; Bucky could hear how angry it was.

"What the hell?" He asked, sitting up and looking towards the noise, to see the iron man suit flying towards him. "Stark?" The suit struck him, hard, sending him flying across the ground. The suit stopped, and with a hiss it opened up, and Tony fell out, throwing himself at Bucky.

"Barnes!" Tony shouted again, attacking Bucky, who tried to simply block the blows.

"Stark, what the fuck?!"

"I told Rogers what would happen if you fucking touched him!"

Bucky dodged another punch, and grabbed Tony's shirt collar with his metal hand and easily lifted the man and held him above the ground. Tony grabbed the metal wrist, and tried to dig his nails into the metal to no avail; curse the Wakanda design team.

"Stark, what the fuck are you doing?"

"Ending you!"

"Okay, why?"

"Wait, you're using sentences again."

"That's generally how people talk."

"But…what the fuck were you doing?"

"Well, Peter decided to try and drown me, so I was busy saving both of us. Now I'm fucking drenched."

"What were you doing before that?"

"I was…" Bucky frowned, trying to think of what he had been doing. "I must've been asleep…I can't think of anything…"

Without Bucky saying anything, the metal arm suddenly let go and Tony fell onto the grass, letting out a relieved sigh.

"You okay kid?" Tony asked, crouching next to Peter, who swatted at the man.

"M' fine, go away."

"I'm blank." Bucky whispered.

"Pardon?" Ton asked, glancing up at Bucky, who was staring at Tony and Peter in horror.

"Blank. That hasn't happened since…shit…I need Steve." Bucky whispered, and took off at a sprint, heading back towards the palace.

 _Not good._

 _Hasn't happened since…_

 _The last time, people died…_

 _So many of them; most of them undeserving…_

 _Why would it have been triggered? Who could he want to target?_

"Steve!" he shouted, seeing the other getting off the quinjet near the palace; Steve turned to Bucky with a shocked look on his face.

"Bucky?" Steve asked, as Bucky reached him. Bucky grabbed Steve's shoulders, breathing heavily, staring at Steve with what Steve could only identify as fear.

"I-I can't remember…I'm blank…what happened?"

"Buck-"

"What happened?!"

"Is Peter okay?" Clint asked, from behind Steve.

"Shit. He-he, I think he tried to drown me? I got us out but…fuck I just left him! Tony was there and he was...pissed and I didn't know why…fuck I just left him…"

"Nat, can you help me get Bucky to the medical team? Clint, go check on Tony and Peter."

"Roger that, Captain." Clint said, and ran off in the direction Bucky had come from, while Steve and Natasha helped to guide Bucky towards the medical floor.

"Tooooony!" Clint called out, then saw the man he was looking for. He was sitting near the path, leaning against a tree trunk. Peter was nearby, laying on his back in the grass. "There you are!"

"Heya bird bra- what happened to you?!" Tony stared in shock at Clint. Clint had forgotten he was covered in scratches all over the skin his uniform left exposed; it was his face that had the most damage. That's what the pain told him, anyway.

"Funny story."

"…This related to the mission you went on?"

"Yep!"

"Good grief, what the hell happened?"

"I got attacked by birds."

Clint ignored the snort that came from Peter.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me."

"Nope!"

"You got attacked by birds?"

"Yep! Come on, I think Natasha got footage."

Clint also ignored the soft yes that Peter whispered, and the teen followed Tony and Clint up to the palace. Tony tried to focus on what Clint was saying, but he was too nervous about seeing Steve to really absorb what the other man was saying. He had attacked Barnes.

He was screwed.

 _ **Anooooooother chapter! I really enjoy writing Winter; it's fun! I might do a few fun chapters, of just Winter Soldier shenanigans. We will see what happens!**_


	35. Chapter 35 - Who Am I Talking To?

**Chapter 35**

 **Who Am I Talking To?**

The audio was a mess.

It was mostly muffled sounds as the microphone rubbed against fabric after the camera had been knocked aside. Near the end of the audio, the camera flicked back on, and they could see someone standing in a park, near a large tree. They were young, with dark brown hair pulled into a bun on the back of their head. Her hands were wedged into a pockets of her jacket, and she wasn't moving.

"Mornin." She said, not turning to look at Steve.

"Morning. You okay?"

"Can't say I'm pleased you've brought them here."

"They're teammates, Hawkeye and Black Widow."

"Not who I was talking about, but okay. I like birds."

Tony noticed that the girl sounded…sad? Almost like she was ready to cry.

"So do I, what's your favourite?" Steve asked, moving towards the girl slowly.

"Have you ever heard of willy wag tails? They're these…little black things, in Australia, hop around on the sidewalk."

"Can't say I have, sound cute though. We've been told you can…talk, to them. To animals in general."

"I do _not_ talk to animals." She said angrily, more of a whisper, a hiss almost. "I don't appreciate you following me, I'm not much a fan of people trying to collect me."

"We're no-"

"I do not talk to them." She said, then fell silent for a moment.

"Shit, Steve! We've got company." Cint shouted from behind Steve, and the sound of heavy footsteps came over the audio.

"What do you do then? We need to go-"

"I control them." She said softly and the air was filled with a sudden storm of screeches, as a cloud of birds flew from the tree in front of them and headed at the team. Steve held his shield up, which the birds flew around, and circled back to attack him from all sides.

"Stand down!" A voice that wasn't one of the teams shouted. "Stand down or you will be sho-"

The audio captured the sound of gunfire; a single shot, and the girl was on the ground in front of Steve. The birds ended their attack immediately on the sound, and formed a tight cloud of themselves, before flying off into the sky and separating into smaller groups as they flew off into the distance.

"Steve, what the hell did I just watch?" Tony asked, staring at the TV screen that was now playing nothing.

"Fury found out Ross had been following this girl; she was well aware of it. She…thought that we were part of Ross' team, there to take her in. She…it was self inflicted; the gun shot."

"Wait, she did it?" Tony swallowed spit he hadn't noticed forming in the back of his throat. Steve just nodded.

They sat in silence; Steve staring at the floor, defeated by the failed mission.

"I attacked Barnes." Tony said suddenly, not looking at Steve.

"I know, T'Challa let me know when we were on the jet."

"Oh."

"What's wrong?" Steve asked, frowning at Tony, who wouldn't look at him. "Tony, what's wrong?"

"I just thought…you know, he's your best friend and...I haven't got the greatest track record with him and I figure-"

"What, that I was gonna be pissed? That I'd return the favour or…? What, Tony?"

"I don't know! All of it!"

"Tony! I'm not mad. I'm…upset, it happened but I understand why. Please, don't worry about what I think, Tony. I'm…glad, that you didn't actually kill him."

"Well, so am I. Sort of."

"I hope Peter doesn't…I really hope it doesn't undo everything with Peter, I'd hate for him to be scared of Bucky again."

"Yeah…though the antics were pretty funny, with him running away constantly."

"They were not!"

"He stole your baseball gear!"

"I still don't know if he was actually scared of me or if it was all a ploy to perform weird stunts."

"Oh he was fucking terrified of you."

"I was worried about that… do you think it'll get better after this? Or worse?"

"Dunno Rogers. Have to wait and see."

"I hate waiting." Steve pouted, frowning at the ceiling. Tony nodded in agreeance.

Two days later, they were back at the Tower; Peter was at school, and the others had settled back into their routines. Steve made eggs for everyone, and scooped large portions of the scrambled eggs onto plates with toast for everyone, while Tony made everyone's preferred drinks. They all fell into comfortable silence; Bucky was eating in his room. He'd been exhausted on landing, and said he wanted to just rest for a while. T'Challa said they would begin work and continue until they had a way to undo the new triggers.

Peter was busy for the next week, and finally arrived back at the tower in his suit just after one in the morning. It had begun to rain to he'd decided to end patrol, and crash at the tower. He quickly changed into dry clothes before heading to the kitchen to find a late snack, when he saw someone sitting at the kitchen counter.

"Oh, morning Bucky. You're up early." Peter said, smiling at the man as he walked past and opened the fridge.

"You are the target." Bucky said, voice flat. Peter turned to face him, holding a glass of orange juice; the fridge door slammed shut behind him.

"What?"

"You are the ta-"

"Yes, yes I heard what you said…why'd you say it?"

"Pointing out the truth, it seems to make others uncomfortable, so I have avoided them."

"…For how long?"

"Since the morning after we arrived back."

"…Okay…"

"Who are you?"

"Pet-"

"I am aware of your name, who are you, in relation to the others?"

"I'm…an intern, to Mister Stark?"

"You sound unsure of that."

"I kind of quit, and we never really…formally acknowledged that I was doing it again."

"So, are you meant to be here or not?"

"I'm not sure, to be honest."

"You live here?"

"…Also, not sure."

"Do you live somewhere else?"

"Well, I have a house. It's actually an apartment." Peter said, and paused, then added. "You're not allowed to go there."

Bucky raised an eyebrow at the boy, but didn't smile. Peter moved from the fridge and slowly began to make a bowl of noodles, picking a flavor at random.

"Alright, well, nice…talking to you." Peter said, heading off for his room. "Try not to kill me when I'm asleep!" He called out.

"No promises." He heard from Bucky, seconds before his bedroom door closed behind him.

That's what made Peter lay in bed later that night, staring at his locked door. He'd kept his web shooters on, just in case, though he wasn't wearing his suit; instead, he was wearing his shirt from Loki and Thor. He laid in bed, staring at the door for close to three hours before finally succumbing to exhaustion, and falling asleep. He was woken up by the alarm on his phone, and quickly got ready for school; he left without breakfast, hoping to get something from Starbucks for him and Ned with the last bit of his gift card.

School flew by, it was a day of easy classes since most of the teachers were out for professional development days. Peter returned to the tower and did some homework before heading off on patrol. An easy patrol as well' the rain had continued through the day and into the night, and most people had stayed home. He helped one lady with a mugging, and had to refuse her offer of money, before she scrambled off down the street.

Peter flew in through his open bedroom window, gave a quick thanks to Friday while he changed into his magic shirt and some sweats and headed out to the kitchen; he had forgotten about his previous interaction Bucky, and was surprised to see the man at the dining table again. Peter froze, unsure if the man had seen him; he could still run. He was so hungry though. Bucky looked to the side, and stared at Peter, an eyebrow raised.

"Uhh, hi. Again." Peter said, quickly walking past the man and heading into the kitchen. He checked the fridge for juice and found a takeaway container with his name on it. He smiled at the unexpected meal, and moved to the microwave to heat it up.

"Your apartment building is nice." Bucky said, startling Peter; he dropped the fork he was holding, which jumped along the ground and landed next to Bucky's foot. Bucky leant down and picked it up, holding it out to Peter, looking at Peter with a slight turn of his head so that the kid couldn't see his whole face.

"You can kee-" Peter tried to say.

"Take it." Bucky said sharply, cutting Peter off.

Peter walked over slowly, and reached out to take the fork, and stopped with his arm outstretched.

"You stopped."

"You're not gonna stab me with it, are you?"

"I was not planning on it."

Peter nodded once, and darted his hand out, grabbing the fork and jumping back from Bucky, who only stared at him for a moment, before looking back at the book he was reading.

"There is only two pages left. It is not finished." Bucky said half an hour later, to Peter, who was sitting on a couch watching a documentary about penguins.

"Huh? Two pages of what?" Peter asked looking back at Bucky. Bucky held up the book and showed Peter; it was the one he had been reading in Wakanda. "Oh, the author releases bits at a time online, and you pay what you want for each chapter. She hasn't updated in a few weeks."

"That is a stupid way of writing a book."

"Tell me about it." Peter grumbled, slumping back into the couch cushions and returning his attention the the penguins on screen. He fell asleep there, later in the morning and was woken up again by an alarm; Friday had set one for him, since his phone was in the bedroom still. It was a half day at school, so he had heaps of time after classes to get homework done before patrol; he even had something to eat before heading off. Bruce would be proud.

Bucky, or Winter, had grown used to the boy coming out to the kitchen at odd times, usually after midnight. This time, the boy seemed slower than usual, and only gabbed a bottle of water from the fridge before heading back to his room. He didn't acknowledge Bucky. The man thought this was odd but, figured the boy had figured out who he'd been speaking to and didn't want to deal with it any longer. Which would be fair.

Bucky hated fair.

Half an hour later when Bucky went to try and get the coffee machine to work; he hadn't been successful yet. This time, he saw a red smear across the fridge door. He stared at the blood, frowning. The boy had been hurt.

He hadn't said anything.

Bucky made sure he was in the room again the next night, when the boy came out again. The boy was quick this time, as he had been the nights before last, and he gave a small wave to Bucky when he came out the hallway he usually came from.

"Evening, Buck." The boy said, walking past to the fridge.

"You were injured." Bucky said, not looking at Peter. Peter froze, hand on the fridge handle. He let go, ready to leave the kitchen but when he turned, Bucky was standing in the way, blocking his escape. Though, Peter could escape simply by climbing along the ceiling; was Bucky not aware? Peter wasn't sure, but he didn't think this was Bucky who was standing there. His senses had been screaming at him every night he'd been in the kitchen; perhaps something was wrong?

"You were injured. Last night. There was blood on the fridge."

"W-wasn't mine…look see, I'm fine."

"Why were you injured?"

"I'm fin-"

"Don't lie to me."

"I was fi-"

"You were bleeding. It was on the fridge." Bucky said, stepping closer to the boy.

"C-could you just…back up…a bit?" Peter asked, voice shaking. "Come on…Winter…just…"

The man raised an eyebrow but did ask the boy asked, and took a few steps backwards.

"So you have figured it out."

"Figured what out?"

"Who you are talking to."

"Oh….um, yeah. The second night."

"You still came out here."

"Kid's gotta eat."

Peter moved forward, and walked past Winter; the man didn't do anything to try and stop him from leaving. He simply watched as Peter headed back down the hallway.

Two nights later, Winter was sitting on the couch, fidgeting with the fabric, when he heard a crash down the hallway. The sound was out of place, and sounded almost like glass breaking. He went to investigate. He stepped around the corner, and into the hallway, when the boy bumped into him and fell back onto the floor in shock. Peter was clutching his chest, having just managed to change into regular clothes; blood was pooling in the fabric on his side, where his hand pressed the shirt to his skin. He saw Winter, realized who it was, and shrank back, pulling himself backwards along the ground until he'd hit the door behind him.

"G-go away…" Peter whispered, staring at Winter with wide eyes. "I-I don't wanna…not…no fighting…"

"Why would we fight?" Winter asked, walking closer to the boy.

"T-target…I'm still the target…aren't I?"

"You are alive, so yes, you are still the target. You are injured."

"I-I'm…"

"If you say fine, you are a liar. How did you get injured?"

"D-don't want…don't…want…don't wanna die."

Winter stared at the boy, who was obviously frightened of him. He was also in pain. He made the decision, and hoped the boy wouldn't fight too much. He stepped forward, and reached for the boy, who tried to shrink away but was stopped by the door behind him. Winter grabbed Peter by the shoulders and lifted him up, until he was cradling Peter in his arms, then he set off for the medical bay.

He knew where the room was, he had gone exploring at night; the strange computer woman had also guided him at times. He found the strange glass box, what looked like a coffin, and lowered the boy into it following the computer lady's instructions. The box hissed as the lid closed and it began to do…whatever it was meant to do, he supposed. Winter sat in the hallway outside the room, and the computer lady promised to tell him when the box was finished.

He didn't have to wait long, barely even an hour, before there was a loud crashing sound from within the room; he ran into the room, to find Peter standing there, wobbling on his feet, and the box smashed open.

"I hate...god I hate that thing so much." Peter said, breathing heavily. "T-thanks…though…"

"Computer said it was the correct thing to do. Said you would not want Mister Stark aware of your injury."

"Well that's true."

"Said she would tell him anyway."

"Friday!"

"My apologies Peter but I felt it important that Mister Stark be aware. He has been told to stay in bed and not bother you. I told him that you received medical attention. I did not say who it was from."

"Good idea computer lady." Winter said, and Peter groaned.

"You have sustained two bullet wounds, both have exited cleanly and will require proper cleaning before you sleep. I can wake Mister Star-"

"No!" Peter cried out desperately. "No, don't…he'll…he needs to sleep."

"I will do it." Winter said, and he saw how Peter went rigid.

"N-no…"

"You will not be harmed."

"H-hard to…"

"It is a simple wound clean. Either that, or I will bother you about how you broke out of the glass box; computer lady said they were made to be strong."

"I don't wan-"

"I clean the wound; you go to bed. We do not discuss tonight again."

"Promise?"

"Would you believe me if I did?"

"Not…really…"

Winter shook his head and moved over to the boy, and let the boy grab onto him so that he could move the boy to a regular medical bed and begin to clean the wounds in his side. As much as he wanted to question the boy about, everything basically, he kept to the word of his almost promise.

He let Peter go to bed once he was pleased with the state of the wounds, and settled into his own bed a little while later.

The kid was terrified of him, obviously; he had expected it. Still the boy continued to come to the kitchen, likely aware that Bucky – or Winter- was there. He was aware of Winter, and seemed…obviously unnerved, frightened, but curious? No.

Worried.

Yes, the boy was worried about him. Perhaps the boy knew him when he was Bucky?

He had no idea, really. The boy certainly felt…almost familiar, so he supposed he must know the kid somehow. He thought back to the story he had been reading, annoyed it had no real ending; the boy had said it was unfinished. What a stupid way to write a book. He wanted an ending; he needed it.

Maybe the boy would share it when there was more.

He would ask the next night, when he saw the boy again. Maybe when the kid felt more comfortable with him? He would almost definitely still be frightened, especially after the night they had just had.

He heard movement the next night, but nobody came from the hallway. He frowned, and heard a door behind him open.

"You touched the kid." A man said; stepping from behind two metal doors, which slid open and closed behind him. "I told Rogers what would happen if you touched the kid."

 _ **Writing Winter is just way too much fun. And yes, SongNoFound! The previous chpter's full title is 'Dead He Forget That He Can't Swim?" but fanfiction won't let it fit!**_


	36. Chapter 36 - A Friend Of A Fan

**Chapter 36**

 **A Friend Of A Fan**

"The kid?" Winter asked, turning to look at the man. He wasn't a large man like himself though he was obviously fit an extent; he was shorter than himself, with brown hair and well groomed facial hair.

"Peter."

"Ah. The target."

"Do _not_ call him that."

"What would you have me call him then?"

"He has a name. Use it."

"…Negative." Bucky said, resisting the urge to smirk at the man. "What exactly, did you tell Rogers?"

"That I'd end you."

"Is that what you've come to do then?"

"No. Because then the kid would know I know about what happened."

"He did not seem to want you to know."

"So, how long have you been around?"

"In total or…"

"Do you have to push it like that?"

"Since the day after we arrived back, from the trip where I tried to killed the kid."

"Where he nearly drowned you?"

"Where he nearly drowned _both of us."_

"So, are we stuck with you?"

"Forever or for now?"

"For…I don't know how to answer that. It feels like a trick."

"You are smart then. How did you find out?"

"I had an alert that the suit had been damaged, and was rather annoyed Peter hadn't mentioned it. Found out one of the medical cots was smashed open and…what?"

Winter hadn't meant to stare, or to frown.

"How did he break it?"

"…What do you know, about Peter?"

"I know his name, and his relationship to you."

"Oh? How did you find that out?"

"He told me, when I asked him."

"What did he say?"

"That he is your intern. Or, that he thinks so, said it is informal at the moment."

"Huh. That…shit, he's right."

"Why did you come up here?"

"To tell you to back the fuck up, and leave him alone."

Bucky frowned at that purposefully. He had liked talking to the boy.

"Why?"

"Because you want to kill him?"

Still frowning; Bucky knew the man was right.

"But…he is good to talk to. I want to talk to him."

"Alone, up here, after midnight?"

"I do not like being around the others. I just want to talk to the child."

"Aaaaaagghhhhh." Tony said, waving his hands at Bucky and stepped back into the elevator without looking back.

The next morning, there was no Peter again, but the same goatee wearing man came back out of the metal doors again; an elevator, the computer lady had told him.

"I'm an asshole." The man said, the doors closing behind him, he was staring at Bucky angrily.

"Should I agree?" Winter asked, looking up from his cup of tea. He hated it, but he could figure the kettle out, not the coffee machine. Stupid thing.

"No. I don't need…look, I tried. I tried to think of…something, to make me feel comfortable with you being around him alone. I just…can't…not anything pleasant, anyway."

"Tell me." Bucky said, similar to the voice had used when he held the fork out for the boy.

"…No?" Tony said meekly, stepping back a little.

"Worked on the kid." Bucky mumbled.

"Huh?"

"Nothing. Tell me what you thought of."

"I really don't want to. I just don't want you near him."

"Why won't you tell me? How bad could it be?"

"You'll kill me, then Rogers will bring me back and kill me again. It's a bad idea."

"I'll talk to him outside of the tower then."

"Um?"

"I was an assassin for a long time…whoever you are. You think I can't follow some kid?"

"Don't do that!"

"Then tell me."

"Do not follow him."

"If you tell me."

"Man I preferred Barnes."

"Funny, I think everyone else did as well."

"It…it's a little thing, it'd be attached to your arm and if you…fuck around, or try and go for the kid, it'd zap you enough to make you stop. It's a shitty thing, for a selfish reas-"

"Alright."

"Huh?"

The vent above them opened up, and Peter fell to the ground between the two men, glaring at Tony when he stood up.

"You need to stop doing that! I am not young! My heart is bad!" Tony shouted, clutching his chest.

"What are you doing?!"

"Were you eavesdropping?!"

"Obviously!"

"If you listened you'd know I tried to not have to do it!"

"Are you going to do it, or do we need to shoo the kid out first?" Winter asked, raising an eyebrow at the two people bickering.

"No!" Peter shouted, spinning and staring at Bucky.

"Why were you in a vent?" Winter asked, staring at Peter with his eyebrow still raised. Peter looked at the floor, ignoring Bucky's gaze. Bucky smirked, glancing up at Tony.

"Tell me." Bucky said, in the same voice as with the fork. Winter's voice.

"I was eavesdropping. I like sitting in vents, I do it to scare Mister Stark mostly." Peter said, not looking up; he felt his cheeks burn as he spoke.

"Peter would you…just, go wait in the penthouse? I won't do anything, promise." Tony said, moving towards Peter and slipping something into the teen's hand. Peter turned and left, heading into the elevator.

"What the hell?" Tony asked once the elevator doors had closed and it had left the floor.

"Did you know that I have a voice different to Barnes?" Winter asked, in _his_ voice.

"Er, I have for a little bit…why has it only just now come up?"

Winter smirked at Tony. "How would you know?"

"Err…I…listened to the audio, from the other times Peter has been with you. Calms my shitty heart."

"Do I know the kid, from earlier? Have I spoken to him before?"

"Yeah, sort of. He was terrified of you and Rogers at first, I don't know if it ever…went away, but he seemed better with you two."

"Ahh, someone will need to apologise to Barnes for me then."

"For?"

"Ruining his progress."

"Look just…think over it, come see me in the lab when you decide, or if you think of something else we can do."

Winter nodded, and Tony left in the elevator to go see Peter. They watched a movie, and made a deal to go out for breakfast the next day. They left in the elevator and walk out to see Loki and Thor outside the tower in casual clothes, arguing.

"Morning you two, what's up?" Tony asked.

"Loki won't come for breakfast!" Thor whined, pointing at Loki, who rolled his eyes.

"I don't see why I should have to; somebody will shout at me again."

"They wouldn't dare!" Thor said, shocked at Loki's words.

"Come with us then." Tony said, and Peter nodded "We're going for pancakes."

"Loki, you like pancakes! Come, we shall you one with the sauce you like." Thor said, beaming at Tony. "Come on Loki! You promised me breakfast on Saturday!"

"I wish Jane hadn't taught you earth days." Loki groaned. "Fine, but let's be quick."

"Yay, group breakfast!" Peter beamed, and the group headed out. They finished breakfast, without any interruptions, they even found somewhere with caramel banana pancakes for Loki.

It was after breakfast, that someone burst past Tony and Peter, and grabbed Loki by the arm.

"Release him." Thor said, turning to face the skinny dark haired man who had approached them; the man did not let go of Loki.

"Naw man, I wanted to see if it was really you! Man she'd _freak._ " The man said, letting go of Loki, looking sheepish and possibly, very hung over.

"Believe me, someone already is." Tony said, looking at Thor.

"You really him?" The man asked, ignoring Tony, and kept his eager eyes on Loki. "Man come on, you gotta be!"

"You're not shouting, though you are still very annoying." Loki said bluntly, glowering at the man. "What do you want? Will proof make you go away?"

"Loki don't encourage him." Tony said, shaking his head. "I'm surprised your glaring hasn't scared him off yet."

"Nah man, I see it every other day basically." The man said, smiling brightly.

"You make no sense; you are _very_ annoying."

"Aye, fuck wit!" A voice from nearby came, and a bottle smashed into the ground in the middle of the group. "Who fucking said you could be here? Get lost!"

"See brother; shouting. Always."

"I'll slash his tyres for you later if you want." The dark haired man said, shrugging; as if it was an everyday comment to make. Tony had to consider that it may well be.

"Not necessary, I have grown used to it; please, _go away."_

"Alright, sorry, sorry! Just…you know, a friend of a fan." The boy said, holding his hands up and moving back. He turned and walked away, slowly, moving into the crowd. The group began to move, when Loki stopped.

"Something is missing." He said, looking at his body, and frowning. "A knife is missing."

"The Midgardian stole from you!?" Thor shouted, looking in the direction the man had gone in. "We shall find him!" The god shouted, and headed off into the crowd; the others had to follow after him, trying to keep up.

"There! He went into that shop." Peter said, pointing at a rundown building, the word fitness plastered over the shop front in broken LED lettering. They pushed through the door, and found themselves in a large open room, with wooden floors and solid, white walls. Various people were performing moves, either with wooden sticks or small fake knifes; practicing fights, and solo moves.

"What the heck?" Tony asked, then saw the man across the room. "There's the fuck, let's get your shit back and go home."

"Thief!" Thor shouted, as they walked towards the man who simply looked at them, and waved. "Return what you have stolen from my brother."

"Alright. Hey gloomy, I brought some friends for you to meet." He said, turning lazily to look at a woman who was looking away from them, spinning a wooden staff in one hand. She continued to spin the staff as she turned to look at him, rolling her eyes. She was young, early twenties, with black hair pulled into a tight bun on her head. She had a sharp face, with high cheekbones and dark brown eyes.

"What do you want? Finally roll out of your coma?" She asked, looking at him with disinterest.

"What the fuck is on your shirt?" Tony asked, seeing what she was wearing.

Plain black tights, no shoes or socks, and a solid white singlet, with a golden metallic crown much like Loki's on the front, the word kneel in all black lettering beneath the crown.

"What'd I say; friend of a fan." The man said, smiling at them. "How hungover are you?"

"The eyeliner left in my eyes suggest very, as does my aching head." She said, shrugging, still spinning the staff, and finally looking at the group.

"What the…" She said, her staff slowing as she looked at them, staring at Loki. Thor nudged Loki in the side and Loki rolled his eyes but let the magic happen; his body shimmered as his clothing changed from his black suit, to his green armor, minus the helmet. Her face went from disinterested, to confused, to mortified.

"Come on, where's the thank you! Look what I did!" The dark haired man said cheerfully, then laughed as he ducked the staff she threw at him.

"What do you mean what you did?! How did you get them to fol- oh, you did not." She groaned, rubbing a hand over her face when he held up the small knife.

"They can come to the photoshoot!"

"Absolutely fucking not. Return the knife, and fuck off. I need to go get ready. On my own, maybe while you're getting stabbed." She said, and stormed off, picking up the staff as she went. He turned to look at them, and grinned.

"There's a museum down the road, meet us down there in a bit.. It's super cool, promise!" He said, ducking past them as he slid Loki's knife back where he had found it, and followed the girl out of the store, calling out after her.

"I would rather not." Loki said.

"I'll go, make sure he's…not an issue, later. I don't like the idea of someone ballsy enough to steal from an actual murder god." Tony said quietly, and Peter nodded. The two headed off. Loki and Thor eventually followed them, deciding it might be worth it to be out of the house for awhile. Or cell, in Loki's case. They found Tony and Peter, watching a group of photographers set up equipment, aimed at a stone staircase leading up to the small museum.

"This feels…very familiar." Loki said, frowning at the scene.

"Loki. I know you're standing right next to me…but you are also, over there." Tony said, pointing at a figure who had climbed up the steps, and was now facing them. It was…not Loki, though the resemblance was so close it was frightening.

"Stark, explain." Loki said, staring at the person on the steps.

"Explain what?"

"Why a Midgardian is dressed as me."

"Cosplay!" Peter said suddenly and Tony nodded; Peter was right.

They watched as the person posed for the photographers. They did a variety of poses, before someone threw a stick up at the fake Loki, and they easily caught it, spinning it so they were holding the prop scepter the right way up.

"Is that…" Loki was saying, to himself.

"I wonder if they made it, it looks good, if they did. Maybe they had it made…" Tony was saying to himself, and noticed Peter looking around. "You okay kid?"

"Spidey senses. Something's…wrong."

"You look awesome!" The dark haired man shouted as the Loki look a like walked down the stairs towards him, smiling.

"I hope the photos turn out good. Can't believe we got the scepter finished in time."

"You kidding? They're gonna look amazing!" He said, and look a like Loki laughed.

"Oh! It's the girl from that fitness place!' Peter shouted, and was obviously loud enough for her to hear. She turned to see him, and frowned.

"You fuck." She muttered and kicked the man in the ankle. He just smiled; he was apparently very proud of what he had done. Something flew over head, barely missing the girl's face, and it smashed into the steps behind her; a glass bottle.

"What the hell was that?" Tony asked, looking around, to see a car come careening from the road nearby. Peter pulled Tony back, out of the way of the vehicle; which stopped close to them, and someone clambered out; obviously drunk.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing here?! I told you earlier, fuck off! You're not welcome!" The man from the car shouted; Tony noticed the small handgun tucked into the man's pants, and felt his stomach flip. The man couldn't really believe it was Loki on the steps, could he? Apparently he could. "Now, fuck off!" The man shouted at the girl, who had looked over at the noise of the car leaving the road, and had frozen in place. The man had his gun out, aimed at her.

"I'm no-" She said, walking back away from the dark haired man, wanting to make some distance between the two of them. Peter jumped forward, as the man pulled the trigger. The gunshot was incredibly loud, and the other people nearby began to scream, running away from the noise. Peter saw her grab at her shoulder as she dropped to the ground, her mouth open but nothing coming out. She stared at the man, who had taken aim again; he was swaying, apparently from how inebriated he was.

"I don't have a suit." Peter said, groaning, knowing he shouldn't jump into action when he could be seen.

"Child, go duck behind the car, the side not facing the street." Loki said, and Peter listened, without argument.

"Loki you ca-" Tony was ready to tell Loki off, but Loki shrugged.

"Do you believe the child would stay out of this? He will be suited, so he may assist." Loki said. There was a flash of green light from the car, and Peter swung out, in his suit.

"Yes! Go magic!" Peter shouted, swinging from a lamp post nearby, and headed for the man, who had closed in on the girl where she sat on the ground. He fired again, seconds before Peter fell into the man. She screamed that time, moving her hand from her shoulder to her leg, where the next bullet had struck.

"Stop it! Let go! I'm solving a problem that none of you will!" The man shouted form the ground, where Peter had pinned him down. The dark haired man had run over, and had begun to pull her armor off, to reveal the singlet and tights that she was wearing underneath.

"You'll be fine; the ambulance is on their way. You'll be fine." He was saying, pressing a hand to her leg wound, which seemed to be bleeding the most out of the two. "You have to be fine."

"I-I'm fine…just thinking…" She said weakly.

"What about? Talk to me."

"My…my next costume…I'll win a competition with it."

"What is it? Can I help?"

"U-Ultron…" She said softly, smirking at him, though there was no humor behind it. Loki had walked over to them, with Thor beside him.

"No, get back!" The man shouted, apparently worried for their safety until Loki flashed, and his magic dressed him back into his armor, much like earlier. He had returned to his black suit for the walk to the museum. "W-what…"

"Move." Loki said to the dark haired man, but the man simply moved closer, seemingly to protect her.

"No." The man said, doing his best to be brave.

"…Broke…" She whispered, glancing at Peter. "He broke it…landed…"

Loki glanced over to see the scepter on the ground, snapped in half beside Peter and the man.

"It can be fixed." Loki said simply and looked back at her, or himself; it felt a little odd. "As can you."

"You…paying for…hospital? Because…I sure ain't." She said, weak, her eyelids fluttering; there were sirens in the background.

"Loki, stabilize her!" Tony called out from behind them, helping the emergency services get to them, by breaking the chains away from the locked driveway; a maintenance gate.

Loki nodded, and held up a hand, which was covered in soft green light; the same light spread over her upper leg, and her shoulder.

"I apologise." He said, before she went limp and he lowered his hand. "Stark, she is ready for treatment. They must be quick."

She was transported quickly, arrangements made by Tony, through Pepper, for anything to be charged to him personally. Loki avoided the group, asking Thor to return him to his cell early; he needed time to think.


	37. Chapter 37 - You're A Scary One

**Chapter 37**

 **You're A Scary One**

"Stark, stop that." Winter said, frowning at Tony.

"Stop what?"

"Pacing. It is annoying."

"You sound like Loki." Tony said, frowning at Winter.

"I take that as an insult, though I do not know who it is."

"He- hang on, I can show you. Friday, could you get Peter to come here with his phone?"

"Of course Boss."

They waited a few minutes, and Tony fell back into work, looking at documents on his tablet; he jumped backwards, wedding himself into the back of the couch when Peter dropped from a vent and landed on the coffee table.

"What did I say about that?!"

"I was already in the vent!"

"I…why?"

"…I'd rather not say."

"…Fine, whatever, give me your phone."

"…Why?"

"I need to show…Winter? Something. Gimme!"

"What are you showing him?"

"Who Loki is!"

"Oh…why do you need my phone for that?"

"Because that girl has an Instagram and she was the closest thing to Loki besides himself. Gimme it here!" Tony shouted, reaching for the phone, which Peter held out of the man's reach. They hadn't noticed Winter move, until he leant over the couch and plucked the phone from Peter's grip and took a step backwards.

"No!" Peter shouted but Tony grabbed the boy's arm and pulled him down onto the couch in a pile. "I didn't lock the screen! Don't look!"

Winter stared at Peter, then slowly moved his gaze down to the strange device; he had seen them a few times around the tower, though hadn't used one himself. He saw someone on the screen; a woman, with dark hair pulled into a braid that fell over her shoulder. She had a mask on, covering her nose and mouth as well as her jawline.

She was wearing a suit similar to his own asset gear, and had a metal arm to match his. Her eyes were smudged, heavy black makeup surrounding each one.

"Mister Stark!" Peter shouted, desperate to get the phone back. "He wasn't meant to see!"

"See what?"

"Who is this?" Winter asked, holing the screen out so Peter and Tony could see; Tony's face went white.

"No one. Don't worry about it. It's not wha-"

"Who is it?" Winter asked, voice steady and cold.

"I really…don't like that Winter has his own voice." Tony said softly.

"Then tell me."

"Peter, penthouse."

"No. Tell me."

"Win-"

"Why would they dress like me? Tell me!" He dropped the phone, and stepped towards the couch, eyes flashing.

"Peter." Tony said, and Peter nodded, darting from the couch and running into the elevator. Winter didn't move his eyes from Tony, and had moved even closer to the couch now. He was staring at Tony, ready to move if the other man did.

" _Tell me."_

"Please don't make Winter's voice scarier." Tony said quietly, moving back from the couch. He was cornered, he couldn't get away without calling in a suit. "Don't look for her. Leave her alone. She's already in hospital. Just please don-"

"Why is she in the hospital?"

"S-She got shot."

"Why?"

"I need the phone. I'll show you."

Winter nodded, and picked the phone up, so he could pass it to Tony.

Tony fumbled with it, glad Peter hadn't changed his lock code; he brought up the Instagram post of the girl in her Loki get up, and passed it to Winter, who took it in his metal hand.

"Who is this?"

"The s-same girl. Dressed as…he tried to take over the world, ages ago; under control of someone else, we found out when he got brought back here by his brother, Thor. She…got shot, because someone thought she was the actual him; they wanted revenge I guess. Very drunk revenge."

Winter was frowning at the phone; it can't have been the same person. She looked so different.

"It can not be the same person."

"Makeup, costumes. She's…good. I guess, I don't really understand the cosplay thing…she was good though, and got shot for absolutely no reason and I can't fix it." Tony said, voice falling into a desperate at the end; he hadn't meant that to happen. That seemed to happen around Winter.

"I want to meet her." Winter said, finally.

"No!" Tony shouted; he was officially freaking out. "Absolutely not! Do not go near her!"

"Why? I do not intend to harm her."

"I don't care!"

"Barnes then. Barnes gets to meet her."

"I-I…what?"

"When Barnes is back. Let him meet her."

"When he's back?"

"I am aware you are working on a way to bring him back."

"I-we- yes. Okay, yes. We didn't want to mention it because…it…I can't think of the right words."

"You worry you will be removing me completely; you feel it to be unethical."

"That…yes, that works."

"I am difficult to remove. Barnes had been split in two for a long time. He finds it tiresome, keeping me at bay."

"Uh huh."

"Make it easier for him; I will always be in the background. I am far too deep in his head now. Try and…make it easier for him, to manage me. He enjoys being here, though he is…uncertain."

"About?"

"I have seen his nightmares, he is frightened. Of you."

"Of me?!"

"Yes. He knows what he did, and fears he is here out of pity, or purely to keep…his friend…happy. He fears he would be kicked out when he does something wrong. Even when he is teasing, the fear is there."

"Well. Shit."

"Yes."

Tony nodded, and quickly scrambled away from the couch to run to the elevator. As the doors opened, he heard from behind him.

"You are a Stark."

"Y-yeah…" Tony said, turning slowly to look at Winter but the man was still standing next to the couch.

"I could not figure out who you were. The child called you by name, earlier."

"Okay…"

"I am aware, of what I did, previously."

"Okay."

"I am not…I am actively working against the orders. The boy will not be harmed. I am not stupid enough to risk losing the safe place that Barnes' has here."

"Great to know, goodnight." Tony said, ducking into the elevator and not looking back.

"Are you okay?" Peter asked from the couch where he was curled up, when Tony walked out of the elevator.

"Fine, great. Just…he wants to meet her."

"What? Why?"

"I said no, obviously and…he said to let Barnes meet her."

"Why?"

"I don't know…I don't think he should but…"

"You know Bucky; you guys get along pretty well. We could go with him."

"Yeah. I just…how do we deal with Winter?"

"Mister Stark, I've been handler before. It's fine."

"That was a fight, under shitty forced circumstances. Not in your home."

"These circumstances are pretty forced. Mister Stark, really, it'll be fine."

"Peter I don't want-"

"Please?"

"You've got nothing left to bargain with, kid."

"I'll think of something."

"Yeah, good luck." Tony said, ruffling Peter's hair before heading to bed.

Days passed, and on the fourth day, Tony found a piece of paper on the kitchen counter, under his favourite coffee cup.

"That little shit!" Tony shouted, then shouted again when Clint dropped out of a vent. "Stop doing that!"

"What's that?" Clint asked, ignoring Tony's startled expression.

"I…Peter's been trying to convince me of something, and I told him he had no bargaining chips left."

"Oops. What did he do?"

"…Put me down to go to his school, for a meet the parents day."

Clint let a whistle, and grinned at Tony.

"Well?" He asked.

"I have to go, don't I."

"Yep."

"Crap."

"Morning!" Peter said, coming into the kitchen. "See you two later, early start at school. Have a good day!" He said, jumping into the elevator, smirking as the doors shut in front of him.

"Shit." Is all Tony had to say.

He thought over the paper for the entire day. He needed a distraction, and coffee, so later that night he headed to the kitchen for something to snack on, and a hot cup of coffee.

The kitchen was empty.

"Hey Friday, where's Winter?"

"He has gone for a walk. He is attempting to test the orders restricting his movement in regards to Peter's location. He is aware of Peter being in the tower, and is seeing how far he can move his body from Peter."

The walk was quiet; rain was falling gently against his jacket and he was glad it had the hood of soft fabric attached to the collar, to keep his head dry. He passed by a storefront, when a young girl and who he guessed was her friend, a young man, stepped out and ran into him.

The young man stumbled back, and caught the girl, keeping her steady as she readjusted herself.

"Sorry man, didn't see you!" The young man said, letting go of the girl now that she was stable. "Usually quiet here at night, didn't expect anyone to be there; specially not someone the size of a mountain."

"It is fine." Winter said, stepping away to continue his walk.

"Where you headed, darl? You look a little lost." The girl said.

"Just walking."

"Sounds good sweet, if you walk by a place called The Flipside, come in and say hi." She said, smiling at him as the two walked past him, and headed off into the street, chatting to one another. Winter walked for an hour or so, trying to ignore the pulling sensation in his chest.

He needed something else to think about; he needed a distraction. A light above him buzzed gently, and he looked up to see a LED light of a pool table which was upside down; the name _The Flipside_ was scrawled on a heavy wooden sigh hanging above him, on the wall. He took a deep breath, told himself it was a bad idea, then pushed the door open and stepped inside. It was…dark, and loud. Music played from a large stereo in the corner of the dark room, which was filled with tables and chairs to one side, a bar to the other and the middle of the room had a number of pool tables set up. The room was crammed full of people, engaged in lively conversations over drinks or games of pool.

"Heya scary!" A voice came from his side, near the tables and chairs; someone was waving at him, a man with black hair that was cut shaggy, a fringe sitting over his eyes, just enough to obscure them.

"Who are you talking to? Oh!" The young girl beside him asked, then saw who the man was waving at, and joined in, beckoning for him to join them. Again, he told himself it was a bad idea; he did it as he walked over to their table and slid into one of the booth seats, across from them.

"Hey scary, glad you came." The man said, smiling at Winter.

"Don't call him that. God you're rude. Ignore him, darl." She said, smacking the man on the arm, but smiling at Winter. "Drinks either of you?"

"Yeah thanks." The man said, and moved so she could climb out of the seat. "You want anything, scary?"

"Don't drink." Winter said; glad she simply nodded and bounced away from the table, disappearing into the crowd at the bar. She returned a few minutes later with three glasses; the one she sat at her seat was full of something pink, with wedges of fruit on the rim of the glass. She set a glass of something fizzy and clear in front of her friend, then a glass of something dark, almost black, for Winter.

"Got you a coke sweet, in case you wanted something to drink." She said, and climbed back into her spot in the booth seat.

"Hey you two!" A blonde lady said cheerfully, stopping to hug the two people across the table. "You two been good?"

"As ever; heya darl, how are you doing?" The girl asked, smiling at the newcomer.

"Work's killing me slowly but we get a whole new team next week so that'll cut my workload by heaps."

"Oh that's good to hear; enjoy your night hun." The two said goodbyes, waving at each other. The girl took a sip of her drink, but glared at something behind Winter.

"Evening Max, how are you doing?" A man with light red hair asked, stopping at their table. Winter expected the man to reply, and was surprised when the girl shrugged.

"Fine. Busy."

"Who's this?" The man asked, glancing at Winter, before looking back to her. "You got a bodyguard now or something? Bit overkill, huh?"

"You go get shot and tell me if it's overkill." She said, looking at her drink, then moving her eyes back to the man. "He's just someone who decided to join us, we didn't see any reason to say no."

Someone walked past, and dragged the man away, chatting to him with a drink in hand.

"Can't believe he's still hanging around." The young man said, and she shrugged.

"What else is he gonna do?"

"You did not use a name for him."

"Huh?" She asked, looking at him. He wished he hadn't said anything.

"You use names for other people you talk to; terms of affection."

"He's talking about how you talk like an old lady." The young man said, grinning at her.

"I do not!" She snapped at him, smacking his arm again. "I don't mean to, just happens. Habit from work. I can stop, if it bothers you."

Did it bother him?

He was unsure.

"Why did you not use one for the man who was talking to you?"

"I use them for people I like."

"You use them for me."

"Yeah darl, I like you." She said, grinning.

"Why?"

"Dunno, you seem nice." She said, shrugging.

"Scary as fuck though." The man added, nodding intently. She rolled her eyes.

"You said something before, about being shot." Winter said.

"Oh yeah, I got shot a little while ago. Let me tell you; it's no fun."

"I am aware."

"Ah man, that's shit. It sucked; all because of a fucking costume too. That shit cost so much as well." She grumbled, sipping on her drink.

"What costume?"

"Here man, you'll love it." The young man said, holding his phone out, to show Bucky the same picture he had seen on the Target's phone earlier. He stood up suddenly, slamming his hands against the table.

"I need to leave." He said, and climbed out of the booth.

"Hey, wait! What's wrong?" She called out after him, and he could hear movement. He stumbled into the street, needing to get back to the tower, but a flash distracted him. A group was standing in a half circle, surrounding the outer doorway.

"Winter Soldier! What do you say to the accusations you are involved in the recent bombings?"

"Do you have anything to comment on, about the attacks on Tony Stark's life?"

"Does Captain America still feel the same way towards you, knowing your past?"

He stepped back; he wanted to run but he knew that anything that could be seen as an attack would be frowned upon. Someone was behind him suddenly, then in front of him and a cloud of paper exploded; small rectangles of cardboard. Playing cards. He hadn't seen them in a long time. These were much nicer than any he'd had before. He was being pushed, breaking through the wall of people; something smashed behind him, then they turned a corner into an odd little alleyway, with a brick wall at the end, and an old metal staircase going up through it, to a higher street.

"You right darl?" She asked, crouching next to him. When had he sat down? He nodded, but didn't look at her. "Alright. Let's get you home then."

"Home?" He asked, frowning.

"Yeah darl. Or hell, even just somewhere you're happy to wait for a pick up. Can you think of anywhere?"

"Do not know anywhere safe."

"Well, what about a phone number? We can take you to ours so you can wait for a pick up. You got anyone to call?" She asked, as the young man watched the street.

He nodded, and pulled the small black notebook from his jacket pocket. Rogers had left it outside his room, Rogers hadn't pressured him about it; he was thankful for it. He would thank Rogers later.

"Great, come on sweet. My friend makes a great hot chocolate if you want one." She said gently, as he stood up. He nodded, though he was unsure if he wanted a drink. Did he like hot chocolate?

"What broke earlier?" he asked during the walk; he didn't know where they were going.

"A camera." The young man said.

"What broke it?" He asked.

"The ground." She answered, as they came to an apartment building and headed to the third floor.

"Alright, who should we call?"

"Not sure." He answered; who would answer? Would they come get him? He didn't expect so.

"Right then, leave it with me sweetheart; and you can go relax with a hot chocolate, maybe a biscuit if Ma left any for me." She said gently, and he let the young man lead him into the small kitchen, though he made sure to listen to what she was saying on the phone.

"Hello? No I- I'm calling for someone! He's…he seems a bit lost; I'm not sure what his name is, but he was being bothered by some reporters outside a bar when he tried to leave. Yes. Not sure, okay that's fine. Don't know; his prosthetic looks pretty neat, I guessed the reporters were bothering him for information, seeing if it's one of the new Stark ones. Okay, thank you, goodnight." He heard her sigh, and throw something against the couch; maybe a phone.

"How'd it go?" The young man asked as she joined them at the dining table, a cup of hot chocolate for each of them. He liked the drink. He would have to ask computer lady if the coffee machine could make it; then he would figure the machine out.

"Someone's on their way. She didn't seem happy I had the number, but man what a turn around when she knew why I had it." She said, shrugging. "They said it wouldn't be long."

It wasn't; it was only half an hour later when there was a knock at the door. The girl answered it, letting Pepper into the small apartment.

"Alright Scary, home time." The young man said, ducking away as the girl tried to hit him.

"Stop saying that." She hissed, then turned to Pepper. "He's alright, a little confused I guess, probably eager to get home."

"I imagine so. Thank you both so much for your help tonight." Pepper said, smiling weakly at them; she was tired.

"He's got a box of biscuits to take home; my Ma made them, I've only got about four dozen of them, I'm glad he's taking some."

Winter found Pepper, a box in his hands; he looked nervous.

"Fantastic, that'll be my snack for the drive back. Come on, let's get you home." She said gently, and he nodded, following her out. He was nervous, during the drive back, though he couldn't place why.

It was when he saw Tony the next morning in the kitchen, eating one of the biscuits that had been in the box on the counter, that he figured it out. Barnes was meant to meet her; not him. He had seen Tony Stark angry before. He had lived it; would this time be worse?

 _ **Brandon and Max are my new favourites and I don't apologise for it at all. I don't have any major plotlines or story bits for them, but they are so much fun to write it's not funny.**_


	38. Chapter 38 - Thick As Thieves

**Chapter 38**

 **Thick As Thieves**

"Morning, you're up and about at a semi normal time. How you feeling today?" Tony asked, dropping into a dining table, the box of biscuits in front of him. "You alright? You look like someone kicked your pup-"

"I met her." He said, unsure why he was so nervous. He had an idea; Barnes was surfacing, frightened of punishment.

"Who?"

"The…costume girl. From the tar- the boy's phone."

"What?" Tony asked, staring at the man in front of him. "You-"

"It was an accident. They walked into me, and invited me to join them at a bar for drinks."

"Wait, what?" Tony stared at the man, hand inside the box of biscuits; he pulled one out slowly and bit into it to keep himself busy.

"She was nice. Her friend is…nice, though he likes nicknames. They both seem to."

"Which were…?"

"He called me scary, and she used numerous terms of affection."

"…So…"

"They are both fine. They called…your…I can not think of her name. She picked me up from their residence."

"Oh! Pepper! Yeah. She was…confused, but she spoke to me this morning; she was just relieved you were okay."

"She was?"

"Course. Explained the…thing with the reporters to me, though I think maybe they were asking something different than what she was told."

"…Yes. I do not believe the two from the bar knew who I was."

"Reporters obviously did. I'll take a guess at the questions, so don't feel like you need to explain it to me." Tony said, and Winter's shoulders relaxed. "Also, warning. The kid is looking for you."

"Why?"

"Just…hide. Well." Tony said, grabbing a handful of biscuits and walking away; Winter wasn't sure, but he thought the man might be grinning.

Peter dropped from the vent in the library, landing on the globe beside the couch Winter was sitting on.

"You're as bad as Mister Stark to find; did he tell you?" Peter asked.

"He warned me to hide. He did not specify the reason why I should."

"Oh."

"What do you want?"

"You can say no."

Winter didn't answer, he just raised an eyebrow at Peter. He could hear the teen swallow spit; nervous.

"Do you wanna come to the beach? I managed to get everyone else to agree. You don't have to swim, I'm not going to, we can just play in the sand or hang out on the board wal-"

"That would be…I will go."

"Yes!" Peter shouted, flipping back off the globe and running out of the room. Winter wondered just what he had had agreed himself, and Barnes, to.

They went to the beach a few days later, on a Saturday. Clint dragged his wife and kids along; Tony dragged along the rest of the team. Winter and Steve had separated from the group, to walk along the boardwalk while the others bought food.

"Heya there big guy!" A young man called out to Steve; Winter was busy with something behind Steve. The young man was playing with a stack of cards, smiling at Steve.

"Heya son, you alright?"

"Dandy. You much of a card game man? Show you some magic."

"Sure, why not."

"Alright watch carefully."

The young man said, holding the cards in both hands, shuffling them in all kinds of quick handed ways that Steve hadn't seen before. Finally, he held the card stack in his palm, and told Steve to take the top card. When Steve reached over, the man flexed his hand, and the stack of cards flew up into Steve's face. He stepped back to protect his face out of reflex; he heard footsteps running away from where he was.

"He took your wallet." Winter said, walking up to Steve.

"Son of a-"

Winter and Steve took off after the man, following him through the crowd. The young man glanced back at Steve, and saw Winter. He increased his pace, until he ran into a young girl with black hair.

"There was an accident." He said, breathing hard, holding her shoulders.

"Let me guess, it happened when you were born."

"What? No! I ran into someone and accidentally stole their wallet."

"Jesus Christ, that's not how accidents work! Who was it?"

"Well, I didn't know who blondie was at the time, I've figured it out now. Luckily, we know his friend."

"Oh, who is it?"

"He's a big scary fuck. Unfortunately, I have also figured out who the friend is." He said, and she saw Steve over the man's shoulders, running towards them; Winter beside him.

"You did not steal Captain America's wallet."

"Would it make the situation better if I told you I didn't know it was him?"

"Not at all!" She said, moving into a run, which the young man followed. They were easy to follow, as they made no effort to conceal their path; they simply pushed through groups of people.

She darted past a store, as Clint's wife stepped out into the walkway; holding their daughter. The young man dodged at the last minute, missing Laura but shoving Clint to the side and into Tony, before running off, shouting a 'Sorry!' back at them.

"Hey, that guy looked familiar too!" He shouted at the girl as they ran.

"Which avenger was it this time?"

"I think it was Tony Stark!"

"I was joking!"

"I'm not!"

Winter and Steve ran through the group as well, keeping up the chase.

"Was that…Steve and Winter, chasing two young twenties?" Tony asked, watching the two men disappear.

"What happened to take and return?!" She shouted at him as she turned sharply around a corner of the boardwalk, and kept running.

"Normally the people I steal from don't notice straight away!" He shouted back. "Also, how are they so fucking fast?!"

"I'll bet they're fucking heavy though, come on!"

She stopped at a wooden wall, which lead upwards to a series of wooden walkways, used as scaffolding. She began to climb, which the man followed, and they emerged onto the top of the walkways, which bent under their weight. They stopped for a moment to breathe, then saw Winter and Steve at the wall, looking up at them. Then another man appeared beside them; with shorter blonde hair.

"Who's that?" The young man asked, then the man began to climb up the wooden wall, heading for them. "Alright expert; who the fuck is it?"

"Who cares?!" She said, moving off along the bending walkways, pulling herself up to another one, and heading off along it. "I did not get shot twice to die like this! Now hurry up!"

She sped up, and the young man copied; they reached the end of the walkways they were on and jumped, landing on the roof of a store nearby. She shouted as she landed, collapsing when her leg met the ground, and laid on her back, breathing heavily.

"I figured it out." She said, breathing between words, as she sat up. "I think it's Hawkeye."

"If I die from an arrow I am going to be so pissed off."

"It would be totally deserved."

"It would totally justify my life long fear of birds."

"Stop talking and help me up, for fuck's sake."

"Alright you cripple, come here."

He helped her up, and helped her climbed off the roof of the building, catching her when she dropped from the roof down towards him. Clint landed on the roof as she disappeared from view; the wallet laying on the floor near his feet.

"Well, got the wallet back." Clint said, joining the others.

"Is anything missing?" Steve asked, taking it from his team mate. "Oh thank god."

"Everything alright now you lot?" Tony asked, from their boardwalk table.

"Yeah, I guess." Steve said, sitting back down beside Tony. "I can't believe they didn't fall off of those wooden platforms."

"She royally fucked her leg though, when she jumped off at the end." Clint said, sitting beside Laura. Winter was already sitting on the other side of her; Clint's wife was nice, he liked her.

"Wait, they what?!" Steve asked.

"Yeah, the walkways ended and they jumped, landed on a store roof; she didn't land very well."

"Keep an eye out for a girl with a poorly working leg then." Tony said, shrugging. They finished their lunch and enjoyed the rest of their day on the beach. They dropped Laura and the kids back off at their hotel, before heading out for a few drinks in town.

Winter was watching through the front window, when he saw two people walk past, arms looped over each others shoulders. He stood up suddenly, and ran outside, to follow them.

"Hey!" Tony shouted; Winter's movement had spilt a small bit of his lemonade.

"You're just a sad song with nothing to say…!" The man was singing; Winter suspected the man was drunk.

"About a life long wait for a hospital stay…!" The girl continued the song, also likely drunk.

"And if you think that I'm wrong…"

"This never meant nothing to yaaa…!"

"I mean everything to ya."

"Shut the fuck up."

"Don't make me drop you on the ground."

Winter kicked something at his feet that he didn't see; a glass bottle, which rolled along, making noise as it went. The two turned at the noise, and saw him.

"Hey Scary!" The man said, grinning at Winter. "How are you doing?"

"Do I know either of you?" Bucky asked, staring at them.

"What's the weird voice for, Scary?"

"I told you not not to call him that!"

"And I told you I'd drop you. I meant it."

" _Salaud."_ She mumbled, which made the man laugh.

"Don't French me, it's rude."

"I wouldn't French you if my life depended on it."

"You alright?" Steve asked, finding Winter outside. "Why'd you run off?"

"Heya Rogers. Not Winter." Bucky said, as Steve stepped beside him.

"Oh, alright, that was…quick. Who are you talking to-"

"Well, fuck." The young man said, pulling the girl slightly closer to him, but angling himself in front of her.

"Found your wallet thieves."

"Thieves?!" She shouted, and the man rolled his eyes. "Don't include me in this."

"Max!" The man shouted, shocked. "You know; you ran as well."

" _Brandon."_ She said, mimicking him. "Anywho, was good to see ya again." She said this to Winter, who she hadn't realized was now Bucky.

"I haven't met you before."

"Oof, harsh." The man, Brandon, said. "Not important enough for ya, Scary?"

"You didn't meet me; you met…Winter."

Steve's eyes went wide; taking in the pair of drunk young people in front of him. They had met Winter? Were they okay?

"…Um, explain?" She asked.

"I'm…Winter was the soldier, I'm Bucky."

"Lookit you, meeting all your heroes." Brandon teased her.

" _Shut. Up."_ She hissed at him.

"Captain Rogers? Bucky and or Winter?" Peter called out, coming from inside the restaurant. "Mister Stark is pretending not to worry; he isn't very good at it. Who are they?" A traffic light up ahead had gone green, letting a stream of cars drive past them, only one pulling over to top on the other side of the street.

"Good, nice to meet you two. We need to go." Brandon said, pulling the girl back with him. "You should probably go home too." He said, glancing sideways at the man walking across the street.

"Our address is in your phone, if you ever need help." She said, and the two turned; there were shots fired, the man from the car having pulled out some sort of firearm. Steve and Bucky spun to see the man, pushing Peter behind them.

"Inside kid, warn the team, start moving civilians." Steve said, and Peter nodded, then moved inside, as the front windows exploded. Natasha and Clint were already busy moving people out through the back exits, while Tony was pulling gear out from the duffle bag that had been under their table.

"You find a rooftop to get ready on; swing in from another direction so they don't suspect anything. Clint and Natasha are moving people, Steve will need his shield, it's in the car we took to get here. Winter has…himself, I guess."

"It's Bucky now, I'll get the shield on my way." Peter said and left through the back, with the civilians, before running off to get ready.

"They took him to their apartment." Bucky said, as more men climbed out of the car, each one armed.

"Huh? Who?"

"Those two we were talking to. They took Winter to their house, and helped him call Pepper to get him home."

"Oh, well…that was good of them."

"They didn't know who he was." Bucky dodged a shot, and punched the man before he could fire another. "Winter likes them."

"Of course he does, fantastic. Did they try to get him drunk? They seem the type."

"No, they bought him a glass of coke. She dressed like him. It was…good, if really fucking weird."

"Captain!" Spiderman called out, letting the shield go above Steve; who caught it with a shout of thanks. The fight began properly then; Steve and Bucky moved into the street, with Spiderman above them helping to web people. It was easier than expected, though they were glad for it. There were no civilian casualties, and only minor injuries from the window breaking. The team regrouped at the tower and showered, before piling into the lounge to watch a movie. Tony was contacted by the police; it was a turf war that they were thankfully around during, some kind of fight going on between the restaurant owner and a local gang.

"Stark, what do-" Loki asked, stepping into the lab, and stopping when he saw the mannequin wearing his New York armour.

"Hey! You made it!" Tony cheered from his seat next to the mannequin.

"What, is this?"

"Do you like it?"

"It's…rather small, for me."

"Good, it's not for _you._ It's for…that girl who got shot."

"Ah, has she recovered well?"

"Err, we had another run in with them, her and her friend. She hurt her ankle, landing on a roof."

The doors slid open again, and Bucky – or Winter, Tony wasn't sure- walked in, looking at the ground.

"Stark- oh. I will come back." So, Winter then.

"Nonsense! What did you need?" Tony asked, beaming.

"Help."

"With…?"

"Stark, I shall eat, then return to assist you with what you called me for."

"Oh! I wrote it all out, here." Tony said, passing a piece of paper to Loki, who took it with a roll of his eyes, and left the lab; leaving Tony with Winter.

"Okie doke; what did you want help with?"

"A project." He said, still looking at the ground.

"You alright? Why you looking at the floor?"

"Barnes is…nervous. It's making life rather difficult."

"What's he nervous about?"

"Asking you for assistance."

"Huh, I thought he got used to it."

"He…remembered, last night, how he attacked Peter near the water."

"Oohhhh, I getcha. Anyway, what's the project?"

Winter pulled something out of his jeans pocket, and held it out to Tony; a stack of playing cards. Tony took them, stopping himself from freaking out just that little bit, about being near Winter.

"What did you want me to do?"

"Make them come back."

"Huh?"

"I…want them to come back, if they get dropped, like Rogers' shield."

"Oh! Why? What's it for?"

"…A gift."

"Do I get to guess who?"

"If you have to."

"Nah, I have a good idea. Let me look at it for a bit, and I'll work out a test one."

Winter nodded, and left the lab without another word. Tony wasn't expecting Winter to come to him specifically for help, he figured the man must have some issues with it; Barnes had gotten better. He also wasn't expecting the deck of cards to be the project the man wanted help with but the more he thought about it, the more excited he got about the project.

The next morning, Tony burst into the gym while Winter was sparring with Steve.

"Whichever one you are, look at this!" Tony shouted, throwing a pile of cards onto the ground in front of him; they landed, and settled, staying still.

"Tony wha-"

Tony held up his hand, a small metal ring on his ring finger; the cards shifted suddenly, lifting up and flying into his hand, landing in a neat pile.

"What…the fuck?" Bucky asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Okay! So I know which one you are today, good! This is for Winter." Tony beamed, holding the card deck still in it's little pile.

"Wait, he actually asked you for that?" Bucky asked. "He…thought about it, didn't realize he actually did."

"I'll go start breakfast Buck." Steve said, waving at the two men as he left the gym.

"Thanks Stark. Sorry for th-"

"You can ask me for help." Tony blurted out. He wanted to run.

"What?"

"He wouldn't…look at me, when he came to ask for the cards. Said you were having issues asking me for help, so it was making it a little harder for him. You can…I don't mind, helping."

"Don't mind helping, or don't mind helping me?"

"Both. Either. I Don't know how to answer that. Just…you can ask for help, I don't mind."

Bucky stared at Tony, and Tony expected to be told to fuck of but…it didn't happen.

"Friday needs to look at my profile again. There's more videos."

"What, like the training ones?"

"Yeah. I try not to…watch them but, Winter does it, when he comes out. I can't-"

"I'll get Friday on it Barnes, if it's easier to just…watch them, I understand."

"I could've killed him."

"Barnes. It wasn't _you._ I can't even…really be mad at Winter, either, this time."

"Why the hell not?"

"Because he…seems to not want to hurt Peter, he keeps trying to stop himself, to find ways to testing the boundaries. I don't like it…not really but…I can't blame him."

"What you said, last time. What did you tell Rogers?"

"Oh…uh…"

"Stark, just tell me."

"I said I'd end you. I actually said a lot, but that's what it boiled down to."

"If it happens, actually _do it."_

"What?" Tony was confused now.

"If it happens, if I _do_ hurt him. Kill me."

"What? I'm no-"

"Just…actually, kill me. Nothing…prolonged."

"Barnes! I'm not…I'm not gonna exact my revenge against you by _torturing you._ I like to think I'm better then HYDRA."

"I like to think you are too."

"Barne-"

"It's my biggest hang up; I worry about it the most. Out of everything."

"What? Being tortured?"

"It's not something you just…"

"Barnes, have you ever been waterboarded?"

"No. They preferred electricity."

"I have been. It sucks, Barnes. I…I know, what it's like to not be able to remember. I'll help you, if you want it."

Bucky nodded, unsure if he should believe Tony, and left the gym without saying anything.

Tony went back to the lab, pleased with his work. Bucky found him a little while later, with a cup of coffee in hand.

"Steve sent me down with a coffee for you." He said, leaving it on the bench; Tony grinned, wheeling over to it, and sipping on it as he worked. Half an hour later, he was rubbing his eyes; he was so tired. He shoved the piece of paper he'd been writing on aside, knocking the coffee over as he did; amongst the spilt liquid, he could see chunks of something white, not quite dissolved. Tony's eyes closed, even though he tried to fight it. He slumped, falling to the side, landing on the floor as he heard something come through the door into the lab. He felt something cold grab around his wrist, then everything was gone.


	39. Chapter 39 - Missing Lost and Found

**Chapter 39**

 **Missing; Lost and Found**

Tony woke up on the floor of the lab, sitting against one of the tables he used for work. He pushed himself up, still groggy; something clanked behind him, and his hands wouldn't go any further. Metal bands were around each of his wrists, and he could feel the chain between them.

"What…?" He mumbled, trying to make his eyes open more than halfway. Movement to his side; he turned his head, and saw Bucky near the lab door.

"Barnes…? I'm gonna say no to it being you."

"Correct." Winter said, turning to look at Tony.

"What's going on?"

"You impede the mission."

"…What?"

"You impede the mission; it has taken too long."

"No, no no no. Come on, just…a little longer? They're working on it!" Tony said; voice getting higher as he pulled against the metal restraints. "Winter, please!"

"Release upon mission completion."

"Winter!" Tony pulled again; all it did was make the metal dig further into his skin. Winter didn't look at Tony, he turned and left the lab. "Fuck! Friday!?"

"The team have been alerted Boss. They are currently out of the tower; they have alerted me that their estimated arrival team is close to three hours. The closest person is Captain Rogers. He is in a meeting with SHIELD."

"Call him!" Tony shouted, still struggling. He hated being restrained. "Now!"

Tony waited, and after what felt like forever, Steve answered.

"Tony, what is it? Why have I got…seven missed calls?"

"Steve! Thank…thank fucking god you answered. Winter's…I think he's snapped. He said the mission has taken too long, he's gone to find Peter."

"You're out of breath. Are you okay?"

"I am…trying not to freak out. Not good with…can you just get to my lab?"

"On my way."

Tony let his head lean back, pressing against the metal table leg; he closed his eyes, and waited. He must've fallen asleep, possibly due to whatever drug Winter had used still being in his system, because he woke up to heavy footsteps walking towards him. A hand brushed against his arm, finding his wrists; he flinched at the touch, trying to pull away.

"Tony! Sorry Tony, it's me." Steve said, as gently as he could, while he undid the metal restraints.

"Peter…he's…" Tony tried to form a proper sentence but his head was too foggy; he rubbed his wrists instead, pretending to focus on them.

"He's fine. Natasha and Clint went to check on his school and his apartment; he's fine, out in the city with Ned, school let out early because of an exam day, for some reason."

"Okay, so-"

"And Winter's gone."

"Yes, that's the issue!"

"No I mean; we can't find him. Friday can't even follow the little tracker you put in his arm, which I have been aware of since you did it. There were never any sightings in the city, not any near anywhere Peter would or might be, he's just…gone."

"So…what do we do?"

"Wait, I suppose. I'll go join Natasha and Clint and look for him in a bit, once I'm happy with how you're doing. Bruce said he could stay here and keep an eye on you."

"But you'll need as many people looking as-"

"Do you _really_ want to though? Not just because of Peter?"

"Whatever is going on…Winter…Barnes as well, neither of them like it. They don't _like_ what the mission wants, let me help. Steve, please?"

"You rest first, you're light headed and you can't sit straight, why?"

"I…he drugged me, earlier, I don't know what with."

"Then we wait until you're doing better. Something to eat and some water, then we'll see how you're doing okay? I won't stop you coming, but you're staying with me while we're out."

"Yes Mum." Tony said, and Steve could only roll his eyes. He helped Tony up, and got the man to the lounge so he could eat and have some water. It wasn't until over an hour later that Bruce arrived, gave the all clear for Tony to go out; he was pleased Steve had said Tony would have to stay with him at all times for the search.

"Right, let's go!" Tony shouted, finally suited up, ready to head out. Steve nodded, grabbed his shield and the pair set out, heading to join the others in their search. They didn't have any idea where to look, or how long it might take to find him.

"You had a mission." A voice said to him; his eyes hurt, the lights above him were too bright. His arms wouldn't co-operate; they were stuck to…something. His flesh hand could fee the metal restraint holding his wrists down. "Only a single mission, and it still hasn't been completed. Why? It doesn't matter. We'll get you fixed; and while we're doing so, you can tell us what you know about Peter Parker, and Tony Stark."

That wasn't good; Bucky knew _lots_ about those two now. Where was Winter when you needed him? He did questioning so much better than Bucky did.

"You answer question, or you get hurt. Simple, yes?" The voice asked again, and something hot and thin pressed against his flesh hand. He tried to pull away from the source of pain but his hand was stuck, held tight against whatever he was laying on. His ankles were restrained as well.

"Now, question one; does Tony Stark still make weapons?"

Bucky knew he couldn't answer, but he wanted to; he didn't want the electricity to come back. He had grown so comfortable with the fact that it wasn't going to, ever. He wasn't with HYDRA anymore; he was meant to be safe.

"Unknown."

Winter forced the word out, ignoring Bucky's panic in the back of his mind. Focus. Keep Barnes' voice. _Focus._

"Very well. Administer punishment, then we shall move onto the next question." The voice ordered, and Winter held in Barnes' screams as the handheld tazer found his neck. He gritted his teeth, he couldn't let Barnes scream.

"Nothing! Where the hell has he gone? It's like he's a fucking magician or something." Tony whined, slumping into the couch in the lounge. They had searched for nearly eight hours, with no luck. Steve had made the decision for them to return to the Tower; Natasha and Clint had only just returned from a mission when Friday alerted them to what had happened. They needed rest.

"You doing okay, Tony?" Steve asked, sitting next to Tony, placing a cup of coffee on the table in front of the man.

"Sore. Annoyed. How could he just…disappear?"

"That's how it worked when he did Winter Soldier mission; it's why he was such a threat."

"Besides how well he killed people?" Tony mumbled, and immediately regretted saying it.

"Well, besides that, yes." Steve said, smiling weakly. "Tony, I know you're probably pretty…awake, but would you try and rest? Even just laying down with your eyes closed for bit."

"Will you let me search again if I do?"

"Lay down for at least an hour, and you come back out with us when we go."

"Alright Captain, deal." Tony said, and let Steve walk him up to his penthouse, before the other man left him to rest. Tony laid down, and accidentally ended up sleeping for almost five hours. He woke up feeling better, his headache had gone, and his eyes no longer stung; he needed food, and a cup of coffee, then to yell at Rogers for not waking him up. He did exactly that, once he had a cup of coffee in hand.

"Natasha and Clint were still asleep!" Steve defended himself. "I couldn't leave; they'd be mad if I didn't let them help search again as well."

"Dammit." Tony grumbled.

"What?"

"You weren't meant to have such a good reason."

"Let them rest a bit more, once they've managed to shower and eat we can head out. Promise."

"Fiiiiinnee." Tony whined, flopping onto the couch, frowning at the television; another animal documentary. Stupid fucking sloths. Why were there always animal documentaries on his televisions? Had Peter hacked it? Probably. Stupid kid.

"Mister Stark?" Peter's voice came over the building's speakers. Tony and Steve glanced up at the ceiling; Natasha and Clint joined them in the lounge, eager to listen; they hoped it would be another Tony and intern conversation. They always seemed to be amusing. "Heeeellloooo?"

"Yes, god dammit, I'm here. What?"

"Now. Before I begin, you know how we discussed me staying at the tower, or at home?"

"Yes. I know." Tony said, already annoyed by the conversation. _Fucking kid._

"Okay good, because I didn't do either of them. You know how we discussed me messing with your protocols?"

"Wait he can do that?" Clint asked, and Natasha shrugged.

"Yes…"

"I didn't touch the Potato Chip Protocol, don't worry. I maaaay have moved your team safety protocol to Karen."

"And…?"

"Umm…she found the arm tracker."

The team was silent, looking at Tony; Steve had a good idea what the kid meant, though he wasn't sure if Clint and Natasha did.

"Where are you?" Tony asked, jumping up from the couch.

"Too far for Sugar Glider Protocol, I'll send you my location through the suit. I'm outside a building, I'm just watching it for now, it looks like a warehouse."

"Stay right where you are, we're on our way."

"Roger that. boss man."

"I- god dammit." Tony said, and the team moved into action; Tony carried Steve while Natasha and Clint alerted Bruce, in case they needed medical afterwards, before suiting up and following in one of Tony's cars.

"I have a question." Clint said over the comms once he was in position.

"I would say not to ask, but you never do what I say." Tony said, landing the suit, and Steve, carefully onto the ground near the warehouse. He saw Peter in his suit on a roof ledge nearby; Peter waved at Tony. It was a quick wave, before Peter jumped off the edge, and swung on a web at the metal doors he had seen earlier; he threw himself into the doors, feet first, and they crashed inwards, opening a way into the building. Tony quickly raised a hand and fired two quick shots from his suit at two guards who had been standing on the other side of the door. He looked at Peter; Peter gave him a thumbs up.

"Ummm…good work, team." Clint said, jumping down to land beside Tony and Steve, Natasha following after him. "Glad the plan worked so well."

"You know, I can talk to Peter without you guys hearing it, right?" Tony asked, and Clint glared at him in return.

"Since when?"

"Since- Peter!" Tony shouted as Peter disappeared into the warehouse; the team followed him, Tony using the suit to help light the room up. "Any sign of the arm signal?"

"Up ahead, it's still emitting, which is good." Peter replied, heading off into the darker end of the warehouse, Steve following after him.

"Umm…Steve, where the fuck do you think you're going with Peter?" Tony asked; Steve threw his shield, letting it disappear into the darker area, returning after the distinct shouts came from the men hiding.

"Clearing a path?" Steve offered; Clint smirked, Tony glared and Peter bounced away into the darkness, clambering up a wall to a metal walkway attached to the wall. He walked along, feeling along the wall for a light switch; he found it, and the sudden light revealed Winter, standing in front of him, gun aimed for Peter's head. The man was covered head to toe in patches of blood, both fresh and dry, as well as numerous cuts and bruises. Peter suspected there might possibly be some burns as well.

"Oh hey-"

"You are the target." Winter said, stepping closer, gun raised and ready. "I have failed for too long; you will be neautralised."

"Ummm…do you _have to_?" Peter squeaked out, moving a foot back, ready to jump away.

"Nah, just fucking with ya kid." Bucky said, dropping to his knees, letting the gun clatter to the side. Bucky looked up at Peter, with a slight smirk, which was made more unsettling by the blood on his face.

"Are you…what?" Peter asked, staring at Bucky. Bucky returned the stare, before falling into hard, loud laughter. "Huh."

"Peter, what's going on?" Tony asked over the suit.

"Mister Barnes is laughing at me." Peter huffed, leaping down off of the walkway as Steve found them and began to help Bucky up.

"Bucky, that wasn't very nice." Steve scolded his friend, who only chuckled again as Steve helped him down the stairs, to the others.

"Barnes, you're a jerk." Tony said, having removed his faceplate. "Peter, I hope you understand in any other situation, I'd be laughing as well. Peter?"

Tony looked around, but couldn't see Spiderman anywhere.

"Is he off having a tantrum?" Clint asked, falling into laughter alongside Barnes. "Maybe he needs a time out?"

"What happened?" Steve asked, looking at Bucky.

"Winter…took over, then whoever was doing…the questioning had to leave to get something, and left one of the guards there. No idea how but Winter managed to pull hard enough to break the restraints, and fought his way out of the…questioning area. It's downstairs, down a small staircase at the back. They…they won't be an issue anymore."

"Who?"

"The blonde lady." Bucky said, and the words weighed on them all; Tony would have to talk to Fury, explain what had happened. He had avoided doing so, in case the fake therapist figured out that they suspected something.

"Steve, go put Barnes in the car, then get in as well. Natasha, front seat. Clint's walking back." Tony said, shutting his faceplate again.

The group bickered; Clint was allowed in the car, he had to drive them. Tony flew back to check on Bruce; the man was ready for Bucky, and was eager to see what kind of condition the man was in.

"Well. You're alive, you're certainly in _a_ condition though it's not really a good one, let's focus on the alive bit okay?" Bruce asked, and Bucky nodded with a grin. "Good, you'll start healing once you've had something to eat, I think Tony arranged delivery for everyone."

"Sweet, let's go doc." Bucky said, hopping off the bed and going upstairs with Bruce, to find the others in the kitchen, arguing. "So…what's going on?"

"What's happened?" Bruce asked, suddenly nervous. He realized then that only Clint was shouting, the others were all taunting him.

"O-oh my god…Bruce…" Tony said, wiping tears from his eyes. "I…I think Peter forgot about something he did ages ago."

"What are you talking abou-" Bruce saw what they were talking about. The cupboard which Clint used for his snacks, had been opened and must have been _filled_ with bird seed, which was now spilt out all over the ground.

"What the hell?" Bucky asked, which set Tony off in laughter again.

"It's birdseed!" Tony managed to shout, before collapsing against Natasha, who was also laughing. There was a moment of pause, before Bucky began to laugh as well. It felt like a natural, deep from his stomach kind of laugh, one he didn't have very often. He could feel tears pricking at his eyes, and it hurt to breathe; it was such a good feeling, laughing like this.

"Oh my god we-we broke Winter!" Tony shouted, sitting down and leaning back against the wall, still laughing.

"Not Winter!" Bucky shouted; he kicked Tony's foot, but he was still laughing.

"T-this isn't even…why did you two call me out here…oh my god…" Tony sucked in deep breaths of air, standing up to talk to Natasha, who had managed to stop her own laughter. Bucky ignored their conversation, concentrating on breathing again. He laid back on the ground and stared up at the ceiling, letting himself smile; two eyes stared back at him from the vent in the ceiling. The eyes stared at him, an eyebrow raising; Bucky decided he wouldn't mention that the suspected culprit was watching them.


	40. Chapter 40 - You're In Time Out

**_Hello, again! So if you haven't noticed, chapter 39 has be rewritten! Click back, read over that one, then come back here! Playing Spider Games continues! I will still be writing some one shots, which I will upload every now and then (perhaps in a separate fic, Playing Spider Games extended?) because they're fun to write! For now, enjoy Peter and the gang!_**

 **Chapter 40**

 **You're In Time Out**

They had spent a few weeks ignoring…basically, themselves. It had been mission after mission, each one followed by a long debriefing, as well as training they had assigned themselves. The thought to cancel, or _ignore_ their personal training regimes, never crossed any of their minds. Peter had gone to visit Tony in the lab three times, and didn't find the man once; he was off saving the world, or talking to SHIELD, or at a meeting with Pepper. Sure, he saw them a bit when he helped with some of the Avenger calls but there was no real time to chat; it was just tactic talk and logistics, which he didn't really care about. He could tell some of the others were annoyed with him turning up to fights, so he decided to lay low with them, and just focus on his patrols.

The turning point in Peter's mood over the whole thing, was during one of the fights. Clint had taken aim at an enemy, and fired; Clint was exhausted, they all were. Peter swung down to shove Natasha out of the way, allowing the arrow to go deep into his upper leg. He let go of his web and crashed into the ground, so he could check out what the damage was; also because it _really_ hurt.

"Kid!" Tony shouted, the suit landing nearby, as Peter was standing up.

"Hey Mister Stark, I-'m f-"

"What the hell are you doing here?!"

"Um…helping."

"You call this helping?! You shouldn't be here, this is an Avengers figh-" Tony caught himself. "You could've hurt Natasha, flying into her like that."

Tony watched as Peter reached for the arrow; Peter grabbed the end of the arrow which was sticking out of his leg, and snapped it away, leaving just the tip and a short piece of shaft which stuck out of his thigh.

"An Avengers fight?" Peter asked, staring at Tony, face hidden by the mask.

"Yes!" Tony shouted, the suit hissing as it opened up; the last monster had been taken down, and Steve reported so to the others. Tony knew Peter hated talking to him while he had the suit on.

"Cool." Peter said simply, throwing the broken piece of arrow onto the ground. He threw a web out, catching a nearby roof edge, and pulled himself up, off of the ground. Tony watched the red sited hero fly away.

"Spider-Man has gone offline." Friday announced through the comms.

"Friday, I can _see_ him. He's fine, reset his suit status."

"Spider-Man is offline."

"Friday, stop fuckin-"

"Peter Parker is offline."

"What?" Tony asked sharply, but Friday didn't say anything in response. Tony decided he needed a shower, and the biggest cup of coffee he could find. Everyone headed back home, and immediately separated, going to their own rooms. Tony went to the lab once he had showered and gotten a cup of coffee; he tidied up the lab, tomorrow was Friday, and Peter always visited on Fridays. It was the day they could work through the night, to Saturday, since he had no school for a few days once he finished on Friday.

Tony looked up at the clock Friday afternoon, and realized it was almost four o'clock.

"Friday, give Peter a call could you? He's not usually so late." Tony said, not looking up from the plans he had laid out; Peter had wanted to work on them last week, but Tony had been called out at the last minute.

"Peter Parker is offline."

Tony let out a sigh.

"No, just call him. Peter, not Spider-Man."

"Spider-Man is offline."

"Friday I don't think you-"

"Offline means he is unable to be reached."

"I know what it means!" Tony shouted. "Why can't you reach him?!"

"Because he is offline."

"Ugh. You know what? He probably has decathlon practice and didn't tell me." Tony whined, and the alarm sounded; he groaned, but moved to get ready. That weekend was busy for the avengers, lots of small fights, and a couple of larger ones; they managed to escape with only minor injuries. Tony collapsed onto the couch at the tower, as the others shambled in through the elevator doors, and found their own seats.

"Friday, call Peter for me, please." He asked. He wanted to sit and watch a movie, so badly.

"Peter Parker is offline." Friday said, the same response she had told him all weekend. It was Sunday night now, almost eleven o'clock. "Spider-Man is offline. Before you ask."

Tony frowned, but didn't say anything; he turned the TV on, and changed the channel when he realized it was a documentary. He was sick of them. The others left to their rooms, and fell asleep in their beds; Tony fell asleep on the couch, waking up to the sound of Steve making coffee. He gave a sleepy mumble of thanks to Steve when the man placed a cup of coffee on the coffee table. He grabbed the coffee cup, and flicked his eyes up when he heard a familiar voice on the TV. That same reporter, who kept bothering him.

"In an almost unbelievable display of strength, Spider-Man saved almost a hundred people last, when he stopped a train from plummeting off of a bridge." She was saying, Tony turned the volume up, staring at the screen. "The footage displayed shows the hero throwing himself in _front_ of the speeding train, using his own strength to push against the train, forcing it to slow down before reaching the peace of bridge damaged in Sunday morning's storm. A pole nearby had been knocked aside when a tree fell due to the high winds in the storm, damaging the support struts on the bridge. Vigilante or not, he certainly has our thanks-"

Tony turned the TV off, and stared at the screen. It was rare for Peter to do something like that, and not come to the Tower to rest; using his strength was tiring, and Peter liked to rest at his room in the tower.

"Friday, when did Peter last access his room here?" Tony asked.

"It has been exactly fourteen days and twelve hours since Peter was last in the tower."

"But, he was…he wasn't here on Friday, but-"

"Peter was not here the Friday beforehand. He has not been here in the afore mentioned time."

"…Right."

He decided he needed to be busy; Steve was always asking him for battle statistics, so he figured that would be a good time sink. He went to the lab, shut himself away, and got to work. The work was dull, and almost put him to sleep; he was done with all the battles from the week, and was now on Thursday.

"Okay Friday, go ahead." Tony said after inputting all the data he had.

"Thursday's battle had a battle success of 85.6 percent; major injuries suffered by Captain Rogers and Agent Barnes, though they proved only to be minor, due to serum enhancements. The second worst injury was sustained by Spider-Man."

"Mmm, yeah, try and get me a visual on that, see what he was up to." Tony said, staring at the screen he had wheeled his chair over to. He watched the footage, which came from a nearby street light camera; Clint had taken aim and fired, and Peter had swung in and shoved Natasha away, before catching the arrow with his leg. Tony frowned at the footage.

"Caculate approximate target of arrow, if Spider-Man is removed from scene." He said, and Friday did as he asked. The image became a 3D rendering, of the enemy Natasha was fighting, moving back and the arrow going through the side of her head, just behind the ear.

"He…" Tony whispered, words stuck in his throat.

"Miss Romanoff would have suffered an injury with a 98.79 percent of proving fatal, had Spider-Man not intervened."

"Fuck. He saved her."

"Correct, sir."

"And…after?"

Friday replayed their comm audio, and Tony held his face in his hands.

"I fucked up." Tony whispered.

"Activating the Mutiny Protocol." Friday announced. Tony sat u straight, looking around as all the screens turned off; he could hear the hiss as his suits closed and locked themselves.

"Friday?" Tony asked, and heard shouting on the stairs. He raced out, to find Clint and Steve, staring at Tony. "What happened?"

"The gym is locked, the training room is locked, Steve and Barnes can't leave to go running. What the fuck is going on?" Clint was saying, with Steve nodding behind him.

"I've got no idea, all my equipment just shut off and I think my suits just locked themselves."

"Correct." Friday announced. "The Mutiny Protocol has been activated; any and all work related equipment or rooms have been placed on lockdown."

"Friday! I have work to do!" Tony shouted, and the three men raced upstairs, to find Natasha in the lounge, looking bewildered. "Nat, what happened?"

"I went to…clean weapons, and Friday told me off. I can't get to my weapons."

"What's the Mutiny Protocol?" Steve asked, looking at Tony.

"I-I don't know. I didn't set it."

"Who did then? Can you find out?"

"There are three people that can set protocols; me, Friday herself and…Peter." Tony said. "Fuck."

"Correct. Peter Parker was the one to enact the protocol. He noticed high levels of exhaustion within the team, and has placed the Mutiny Protocol, in the hopes it would give you time to recuperate. Agent Coulson was contacted by myself with the concerns, without relaying who they came from, and he approved the protocol. The fantastic four are on standby to assist with any threats that are on any level higher than what SHIELD agents can handle."

"So…we're trapped?" Clint asked.

"Negative, Agent Barton. You are permitted to leave the tower, for non work and non training related activities. Peter has arranged a number of activities, some solo, some group, to help everyone relax."

"What the fuck? Tony, your kid sucks. Friday, tell the kid he sucks." Clint demanded.

"The message has been relayed, it has been replied to with an automatic response of a picture of the recent arrow wound to Peter's upper leg." Friday told them, and Clint paled.

"…Shit, Clint you didn't know either?" Tony asked. Clint shook his head. "An arrow nearly got Natasha on Thursday, and Peter threw himself into her to knock her out of the way, and caught it with his own stupid body. I…blew up at him, and he's set himself to offline since then."

"Can we set ourselves to offline?" Steve asked, honestly curious.

"No. It isn't…it's something Peter installed himself, and I haven't had the…I just never got rid of it. Did you want to-"

"No! I was just curious, that's all."

"Screw this." Clint said, glaring at the rest of them. "Tony, seriously, he's a teenager. Control him, I'm going out."

With that, the archer stormed off into the elevator, and asked Friday to take him to the ground, he wanted to go out.

"Of course, Agent Barton. There is something waiting for you with the front desk receptionist. I believe it is important." Friday told him, so he asked the lady at the desk for whatever was there for him. He was given a yellow envelope, an A4 sized one; he figured it was from SHIELD, so he opened it once he was seated at a table in a café.

It was…an itinerary? A list of things to do? It was written in black biro, which must've been filled with runny ink, because parts of it were smudged.

 _Birdy Things To Do_

 _Play with kids_

 _Go on date with Laura (Laura is nice; Laura should get fancy dinner)_

 _Play Mario kart (Thor also likes Mario kart. He likes playing Toad.)_

Clint stared at the list; first he was confused, then annoyed, then he was…he wasn't sure. It had to have been the kid's work, since he had made his own protocol to put them all in time out. He asked the barista to make his coffee a takeaway instead, bought a coffee for everyone else and grabbed a bag of pastries. It didn't take long to get home and deliver each coffee to who it was meant for.

A cappuccino with lots of chocolate on top for Steve.

A long black with a bit of cold milk and hazelnut syrup for Natasha.

A fancy raspberry green tea for Bruce.

A mocha with extra chocolate for Bucky.

A caramel popcorn frappe for Thor with extra cream on top.

A double shot long black for Tony.

Tony took the takeaway cup, and chocolate croissant, staring suspiciously at Clint.

"Thanks…what do you want?" Tony asked, taking a sip. "Fuck, that is _good_."

"A favour."

"Okay…"

"I want…to take Laura out for dinner, somewhere nice…"

"Hmmm…let me call Pepper, she can sort something out for you…and…"Tony paused, looking at Clint. Tony pulled something out of a drawer nearby, and held it out to Clint; a bank card.

"I don't nee-"

"No. I know Laura is still staying in town, go see her and give her this. Watch your kids while she goes shopping; tell her to get something to wear for dinner, a full outfit. Maybe a haircut if she wants." Tony said, flicking the card at Clint, who caught it.

"Stark, I don-"

"Don't _Stark_ me bird boy. I'll get happy to drive you both, he can drop the kids here and we can keep them busy while you're out for dinner." Tony said, shooing Clint out of the lab, to go see his wife while he called Pepper to make dinner plans. Happy picked them up dead on six o'clock that night, and dropped the kids off at the tower; Cooper was ecstatic, while Lily seemed nervous, until she saw Natasha.

Dinner was…Clint couldn't describe it; he also couldn't describe his wife, who was decked out in something he would never have imagined on her. A deep purple dress, which clung to her in the best possible way. He loved it. He also loved Natasha's knack of knowing how a night would go, and he received a 'kids ready for sleepover, have a good night' text from her once he and Laura arrived back at Laura's hotel room. They enjoyed breakfast together the next morning, before Clint headed back to the tower with Happy. Happy picked the kids up after Clint hung out with them for a few hours, and dropped them both back with Laura.

"Stark." Clint said from the elevator door; Tony was sitting at the dining table with a bowl of cereal. "Thanks."

Tony grinned but shrugged.

"No worries Barton. How was din-"

"I have no idea what dress she bought. Pepper needs to find out, I need as many of that dress as you can get. She can't not have that dress."

"What happened to it- actually, I would rather not know. I'll chat to Pepper. Glad you had a good night." Tony said grinning, eating another spoonful of cereal. Clint headed off to change into more comfortable clothes, since he only had his dinner clothes; then came back out to play Mario kart with Thor.

"Alright, Tony. Did you want anything from the shops?" Steve asked, placing his dirty bowl into the dishwasher.

"You going out?"

"Need some art stuff, not going far." Steve said, shrugging. "Might go for a walk, feel restless."

"Mmm no don't think so. Could you pick up some of that weird cookie dough ice cream Bruce likes but says he doesn't? We're nearly out."

"Sure." Steve said, smiling as he headed outside, and began to walk in the direction of the art store he liked. He'd found an envelope in the kitchen that morning, before the others had come out of their rooms; it had a list in it, and he was thinking over it as he walked.

 _Fun Stuff To Do_

 _Paint something_

 _Go running somewhere new_

 _Buy some lego for Mister Barnes_

 _Bake an apple pie_

Steve went to the art store; he grabbed some extra supplies, some stuff he hadn't used before. It might be fun to experiment. On his way home, he stopped at the grocery store and did a quick shop, before heading home, taking a longer route, to stretch his legs. Bucky came back from a run of his own, to find Steve in the kitchen, peeling a massive bag of apples.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"Making apple pie."

Bucky settled in, and began to peel as well.

Bruce found them, and without being asked, began to measure ingredients for pastry. Tony found them, as well as Clint and Nastah – who were playing cards on the dining table – and was shocked by the sight.

"What…the ever loving fuck is going on in my kitchen?" He asked, staring at them.

"Making apple pie." The three men said, without looking at him.

"Well, made. It's ready, did you want some?" Steve asked, pulling a stack of bowls out of a cabinet.

"Fuck yes." Tony said, sitting at the dining table. He was joined by everyone else, while Steve handed out bowl of pie and ice cream, and they all began to eat, chatting around the food.

"So." Tony said, leaning back once he he had finished eating his second piece of pie. "What brought on the pie?"

"They had little recipe cards on display in the supermarket, and I just thought it'd be funny." Steve said, placing a bowl with a slice of pie in it into the fridge. "Tony if you see Peter, there's some pie in the fridge for him."

"Thanks Cap, I haven't spoken to him yet though." Tony said, staring at his empty bowl.

They all said their goodnights, and headed off to their rooms; Tony hated how empty his floor was when it was just him. He ignored the yellow envelope, and slumped into his couch to watch a movie. He couldn't pay attention to anything he put on, his thoughts kept drifting to the envelope that he hadn't opened; he had a good idea who it was from, but not what was in it. He hated thinking about it.

Natasha was laying in bed, reading over her own list.

 _Nice Things To Do_

 _Go see a ballet_

 _Go dancing_

 _Do some gardening_

 _Do something you always wanted to, never got to_

The next morning, Natasha found Tony at the coffee table.

"Stark."

"Yes…?"

"Where would I go, to ride a horse?"


	41. Chapter 41 - I Don't Need To Be Strong

**Chapter 41**

 **I Don't Need To Be Strong**

"…A horse?" Tony asked, bewildered. "Like…the four legged, farm animal, horse?"

"Yes." Natasha said, already moving away; this was a mistake.

"Umm…to be honest, I have no idea. I'm sure there's some places you could hire one?"

"Are there…schools?"

"Like, to learn how to ride? I guess, daughters of rich people have to learn somewhere. Clint!" Tony shouted, when the archer walked into the kitchen.

"…Yes?"

"Where can Natasha go to ride a horse?"

"Uhhh…I mean, I live on a farm, we don't own any horses though."

"Do you want to?"

"Fuck no, they're so much work."

"What if we hired some?"

"…The kids _would_ probably enjoy it. There's a stable on the property, no idea what shape it's in though, haven't been out to it for years."

"What are we talking about?" Bucky asked, as he came into the room with Steve; they'd returned from their run together.

"We're hiring horses." Natasha said.

"…Why?"

"Nat wants to ride one, Stark wants to hire some and keep them on my farm for a bit. The stable will need heaps of work before it's ready though."

"Alright well, let's get it fixed up!" Tony said, grinning. "That'll show that stupid kid; team building project!"

"Then horses?" Natasha asked; she needed to be sure.

"Then horses! You can pick your own colour if you want!" He said, beaming.

The rest of the day was planning the trip away to Clint's house, then what they would need for the horses once the stable was prepared. Laura and the kids left for home that day, so the team went the next day, and arrived late in the afternoon, to find Laura preparing a barbeque outside.

"Dad!" Came the shouts of Clint's kids, as they dragged him away to play. Dinner was great, and the group woke up bright and early the next morning, with only a little complaining from Tony, so they could walk up to the stable.

"What. The. Fuck?" Tony asked, once they'd reach the building. It was barely standing, having been exposed to rain and blazing heat from the sun, on and off for years. "This needs…more work than I thought. Okay. Barton, there a hardware store nearby?"

"Bout half an hour away, family owned thing." The archer replied.

"Alright, we'll get a shopping list together and I'll head off with you and Steve, the others can stay here, maybe start moving out what debris they can."

The team nodded; there would be no arguments, this was for Natasha. Bucky did most of the heavy lifting, while Natasha and Bruce worked hard ridding the wooden frame of the stable of any weeds or overgrown plants, as well as tidying away smaller bits of debris like broken bricks or rocks. Clint, Tony and Steve returned with a truck and trailer full of supplies, as well as cold drinks and sandwiches for everyone.

"So, I was thinking…"Tony said, glancing at Bruce. "Of…seeing if Friday would ask Peter to have the protocol removed from you."

"What? Why?" Bruce asked, confused.

"You never really…took part in any of the arguments. I know you were tired, you were probably the worst off, since us being tired meant more injuries, which meant more work for you." Tony explained, laying back in the grass. "I don't think it's fair that you had to deal with us being shitty, and this…mutiny, the little shit."

"I agree with Tony." Steve said. "We made life harder for you Bruce, and it wasn't fair. If Peter removed the restrictions from you, I think it would be good."

The others all agreed; either in nods or words. Bruce stared at the grass he was sitting on, smiling to himself.

"The kids were asking about him." Clint said, finishing his sandwich. "About Peter, earlier, they miss him."

 _Peter would love to hear that._ Tonythought to himself.

"We'll get him out here, one day." Steve said, and smiled. "Be good to have an extra person for the heavy lifting."

"Oi!" Tony and Clint both shouted, insulted.

"In Barton's defense, he doesn't _need_ to be strong; he needs to be fast, and too much muscle would slow him down. Like someone else I know." Tony said; Clint was surprised by the defense. Also a little insulted, he was plenty strong.

"Tony carries around a _metal suit_. He'd have to strong to lug that around!" Clint said, returning the defense.

"I guess…" Steve said, smirking as he stood up, collecting their rubbish into a plastic bag.

"Get your patriotic ass back here and apologise, now!" Tony shouted, and chased after Steve when the man began to sprint back towards the house. "I'm strong, not fast! Fuck you!"

"Rogers, lift me up." Tony demanded the next day, pointing at a wooden beam above him.

"…Why?" Steve asked.

"I need to get up there to run wiring for the new lights, so hurry up."

"Tony I don't know…if you fall…"

"Then catch me, god dammit. Up!"

Steve groaned but did as Tony asked, and helped the man climb up onto the wooden beam; he also passed up tools that Tony needed, when the man asked for them. Steve heard the creaking before Tony did, but they both heard the cracking of wood at the same time.

"Shit!" Tony shouted as the wooden beam creaked, and gave way, splitting in half beneath his feet. Steve rushed over and managed to grab Tony before the man hit the ground.

"Tony, are you alright?"

"Have you ever just, seen your life flashing before your eyes?"

"…Numerous times."

"Part of the job, right. Thanks for the save." Steve let Tony onto the ground, relieved his team mate wasn't hurt. They worked to replace the broken beam, and had Clint run the wiring, under Tony's instructions.

"He's so much better then me at walking over dangerous stuff, this is perfect." Tony said, pleased by the progress they had made. The majority of the debris had been cleared out, and they had begun rebuilding most of the frame. Natasha felt something odd in her stomach, seeing the partially restored stable. She couldn't place the feeling, but it wasn't unpleasant.

Work continued for another three days, and they made rapid progress; Tony was satisfied enough to arrange for the four horses to be dropped off. The others headed back to the house to shower and hang out with Clint's family. Natasha stayed behind, brushing the horses, patting their necks and smiling to herself each time they whinnied.

"You having fun?" Clint asked from where he was leaning in the doorway. "You've mentioned horses…before. What brought this on?"

Natasha simply shrugged, then turned when she heard Clint pull something out his jacket pocket; a folded up piece of paper.

"You get a list as well?" He asked, eyebrow raised. She nodded, once. "Tony picked a real brat, didn't he?"

Clint was grinning, which let Natasha know she could smile as well.

"He's a good brat." She said, and Clint nodded.

The next day, there was a friendly blonde girl, in her early twenties, riding up towards the stable; Steve noticed the girl, and her white horse, first.

"Who's that?" Steve asked, drawing everyone else's attention to the girl. Natasha was staring at the horse more than the girl; solid white. The horse had always imagined.

"Mornin'!" The girl called out, waving at them from the horse.

"Now _that_ is a farmer's accent." Tony said, grinning and waving back. "Morning! Welcome!"

"How are we all doing? Can't wait to get started." She said, smiling at them all.

"…Sorry, who are you?" Steve asked.

"Samantha! Though I get called Sammy a lot, call me whatever you like. I'm here to teach you guys how to ride."

Which is exactly what she did; three hours later, they were all sweaty, covered in hay and dirt, sitting on a haybale. Natasha was watching the girl brush down her horse.

"What's it's name?" Natasha asked.

"Lumpy." The girl replied, looking at Natasha.

"That's…an odd name." Clint said.

"Which is why it's even funnier that he suits it so well." She said, grinning. "Did you want a go?"

Natasha nodded and immediately was up, letting the girl help her onto the horse. She didn't notice Clint quietly take a photo, or how the others smiled at each other, quietly proud of what they had achieved. The horses were picked up the next day, letting Natasha have an entire day to ride as much as she liked; they barely saw her, with her riding the trails she found through the nearby trees. They all slept well that night, and headed home the next day, after lunch; Clint was holding a gift his family had gotten for Peter.

"Right then, what's on Bucky's list?" Clint asked when they'd arrived home. Bucky stared at Clint with wide eyes; Clint and Natasha both held up their lists, folded into a small square, so they could carry it at all times. A good luck charm, Laura had said.

"Oh." Bucky said, and pulled his out of his wallet.

 _The Scary Arm List of Things To Do_

 _See a baseball game_

 _Build some lego_

 _Go ice skating_

 _Do something you enjoy_

"Huh." Steve said, looking over the list. "These will be easy enough. I got you some lego too."

"…Why?"

"List."

"Should we have a lego night? Like we did ages ago." Bruce asked; everyone said yes. They poured drinks, and settled into building the various lego sets Steve had bought.

"Everyone has to take photos of what they make, for the kid." Clint said. "So, what's on your list Tony?"

"Don't know." Tony said, after a pause. "Haven't opened it."

"Why not?" Natasha asked, staring at him.

"Don't know."

"Did Thor get a list?" Bruce asked, looking at the others.

"Dunno, he ran off to go visit Loki once the protocol was set, maybe that's how he wanted to relax." Clint suggested.

"What else did you wanna do on your list, Bucky?" Steve asked.

"I have an idea." He said, grinning at Steve.

"Oh no." Clint muttered, carefully clicking his lego bricks together.

"I enjoy embarrassing Peter. I say we pick him up from school, and go ice skating." Bucky told the others.

"… _I love it."_ Clint whispered, giddy at the idea.

"Boss, I apologise for the interruption, but I have an urgent call from Miss Potts."

"Wait, what? Did the protocol end?" Tony asked.

"No, sir. Miss Potts call was redirected to Peter's phone, and she explained that she needed to speak to you, and why. He said she could speak to you, as it is directly related to Stark Industries."

"Alright, answer her call." Tony said, and Friday did.

"Tony! Oh thank god you're there." Pepper said over the speakers.

"Me and the rest of our unruly gang, what's wrong?"

"The new starkpads…a whole bunch of them have gone missing from the warehouse; thousands! I need you here, we need to figure it out before I lose my mind."

"How…alright, I'm on my way." He said, ending the call. "Shit. That means security got bypassed…alright, I'm sorry guys…shit. Peter's gonna be pissed."

Tony talked to himself while he got ready and left, heading to meet up with Pepper. He knew realistically that Peter wouldn't be upset, he'd let Pepper get the call through but something was still bothering him. Would Friday tell Peter he hadn't opened the envelope? He couldn't even explain just _why_ he hadn't; he was worried about it's contents. A letter of resignation, a note saying not to contact Peter again, anything and everything was a possibility and Tony hated thinking about it. He was able to push the thoughts away when he stepped out of his car at the warehouse, and found Pepper speaking to the security team.

"Tony!" Pepper said, pleased to see him; a security guard stepped in front of her, facing Tony. Tony noticed the unimpressed Pepper face made behind the man but she didn't say anything.

"Glad you were so quick Sir, good to see you." The man said.

"Mmm, what do we know about what happened?" Tony asked.

"The security footage was cut off for about fifteen minutes, black screen; comes back online and a palette of the items are obviously missing." The man was saying. "I'd advise you find out who was on security last night, get rid of em."

"Uhh…why? Exactly?"

"Well, who else could be responsible? I've already checked the perimeter of the building; no sign of forced entry, no sign of any damage to the building, no spiderweb-"

"I don't care about spiders, why would you look for spiderwebs?"

Pepper coughed behind the man, looking over his shoulder at Tony.

"Mister Johnston here has made _numerous_ reports the past week, even over the past month, that Spiderman was casing the warehouse for robbery." She said, holding up a manila folder full of paper; reports, Tony was thinking. He was right. He took the folder from Pepper and flicked through the numerous security reports about Spiderman being seen near the warehouse, always around midnight, always hanging around for fifteen to twenty minutes, before leaving.

"And…you suspect he's responsible for this?" Tony asked, glancing up at the man. "Or you did, but there's no spiderwebs."

"Sir, he _is_ a vigilante. I highly doubt he's making much bank from solving petty crimes at night; would he say no if a group offered him money to help with a robbery?" The man was saying; Tony could see Pepper past the man. She knew about his relationship with Spiderman, not Peter, but she knew he was at least semi-close to the hero.

"Mister Johnston, I think you should consider keeping quiet, about this particular subject." Pepper warned the man.

"I'm gonna see if any of the backup cameras went down as well." Tony said, looking up at the sky as he thought to himself. _Remember the name Johnston._ "I don't want to fire anyone without having total proof. I'll send you anything I find Pepper. The others will probably end up wanting to help, if it's anything major."

"The help is always welcome Tony, thanks for coming out today." She said warmly, stepping past the security guard and walking Tony to his car. "Everything okay? I've never needed outside permission to call before."

"Err…we're kind of on time out?" Tony said, smiling sheepishly at Pepper. "My intern noticed we were all getting a little…hostile; thought we were overworked. He mentioned it to Friday, and…Friday kind of took over. We aren't answering avengers calls, not meant to be doing anything for work related things; guess this was important enough to ignore the new rules."

"Well, I think it's a good idea. I hope it works Tony, I'm sorry I didn't notice it earlier."

"Pepper, you already do like 98% of my job, which technically I guess is your job now that you're CEO, but the point still stands."

"I'll take it as compliment Tony, I know what you meant. Go relax some more, I'll keep an eye on the situation here."

"Alright…I'll still have Friday look into the backup cameras, and have anything useful sent to you."

"Thanks Tony."

They said their goodbyes, and Tony returned to find the tower empty.

"…Huh."

Bucky and Steve walked through the school hallways; they'd been told Peter's class had been moved, which was incredibly annoying. What was even more annoying, is when the end of class bell rang and students streamed out of classrooms into the hallways.

"Well, shit." Bucky said "We're never gonna find the little shit now."

"Do you think we'd recognize his friend? Might help us find him." Steve suggested, walking through the crowded hall. They were both wearing hoodies, and caps; Steve had decided to wear a pair of sunglasses as well. They didn't want to be swamped by high schoolers while trying to find Peter. They didn't notice the student creeping closer to them, slowly reaching up; both of their caps were suddenly pulled away, thrown off into the crowd.

"Oh my god, it's Captain America!" Someone, a boy, shouted from down the hallway. Steve and Bucky turned, to see Ned pointing at them, and someone rushing off through the crowd.

"That little shit." Bucky said, and felt the crowd move in closer as kids swarmed them, shouting out questions, asking for autographs. Peter ran outside of the school, through a side door, and ran straight into Flash.

"Parker! You fucking moron, what the hell?" Flash shouted, grabbing Peter's shirt and yanking hard, pulling Peter back towards him. "Learn to what where you're fucking going."

"Sure, just not today!" Peter said,glancing over the the door he had come out of. "Really, busy, you know. Places to be."

"Like where?"

"Parker!" A voice came from around the corner.

"Literally anywhere but here." Peter said as Bucky rounded the corner; he'd abandoned his hoodie, and his metal arm was now on display.

"Parker, you little shit." Bucky said, glancing at Peter, then seeing Flash's hand, still gripping Peter's shirt. "Problem, kid?"

Flash shook his head and ran, passing Bucky, letting Peter lose his balance and stumble, which meant he'd lost his chance to escape from Bucky.

"Come on man, what are you doing here?" Peter asked as Bucky walked over to him, grinning.

"Checking things off my list."

"…How?"

"Things I like doing, like embarrassing you _and_ picking you up from school; a win-win. Also, we're gonna go ice skating."

"Jesus…christ. Why?" Peter whined; Bucky just laughed. "Why would you do this to me?"

" _You_ made the list."

"I feel you're using the list unfairly."

"Nah, come on." Bucky said, dragging Peter by his arm. "And now that there's students everywhere, you can't super strength your way to freedom."

"This is so uncool." Peter mumbled to himself, as Bucky dragged him out to their car, at the front of the school.

"I prefer it to you escaping by tree branches." Bucky said. "Found him!" He called out to Steve and Clint.

"Uhh…I kind of expected Steve, why is Clint here?"

"He also wanted to go ice skating. Natasha is coming as well, dunno where she is though."

"Nat's driving, we swapped." Clint said, beaming when he saw Peter. "Hey kid!"

"You all suck." Peter moaned as Clint opened the back car door, and Bucky shoved Peter into the car. "This is definitely a kidnapping."

"God, stop your whining, it'll be fun." Clint said, climbing into the front passenger seat; Steve and Bucky climbed into the back and sat either side of Peter. The car came to life, and pulled away from the curb following Natasha's directions with the steering wheel; Peter was ready to drop dead. He hoped for a little more time between his mutiny and seeing the group.

He hoped Tony wasn't there; he couldn't deal with the man right now, especially after taking over his AI, even if it benefited the team. It had, hadn't it? He had no idea.


	42. Chapter 42 - She's Not A Real Doctor

**Chapter 42**

 **She's Not A Real Doctor**

Bucky had never been in a skating rink before; it was…cold. It was a little odd to see people having so much fun, somewhere so cold. Winter agreed, in the back of his head.

"So, what do we do?" Clint asked, staring at Peter.

"Why are you looking at me? You're the adult."

" _I_ am an adult who never had an actual childhood. I don't think any of us did, so, it's your job to teach us."

"This is the lego thing all over again." Peter mumbled then sighed. "Fine, we need to go hire some skates first." Peter lead them over to the counter, and the man working there helped them all find their sizes, as well as giving them a quick lesson on how to properly lace them up. They made their way to the wall surrounding the actual ice, and the team watched as Peter stepped onto the ice.

"Peeeeeeter!" A voice from the other side of the ice shouted, and a girl with curly brown hair came to a sudden stop beside Peter, scooping him into a hug. "Hey kiddo!"

"Oof! Oh hey Tara." Peter said, when the girl finally let go of him.

"How you been?! Man haven't seen you in forever."

"Oh um, good."

"How's the internship been going? Ned's always talking about it, must be interesting."

Peter gestured behind him, at the team, who were watching with confused looks on their faces.

"Oh! Well, must be good then. You're kind of missing the actual guy running the internship though." She said, raising an eyebrow.

"Something happened with the company, he got called in last minute for disaster control." Peter said, smiling at the girl.

"Oh that sucks. Anyway, I won't crash the party any more, have fun Peter!" She said, pushing herself away before spinning on her skates, and gliding away to her own group of friends.

"Who…was that?" Clint asked, looking wearily at the ice. How had she moved so easily on it?

"Ned's cousin, Tara. I used to go visit his family for Christmas, since it was usually just me and May, and some years she worked over Christmas." Peter said, not really thinking about what he was telling them. "She's nice, a little…loud though. She must be in town for Ned's birthday." Peter said, finding the right footing on the ice, then looking up at the group. "It's Ned's birthday today."

"Oh." Clint said, eyes wide, then Peter pushed away. He disappeared into the crowd of other skaters, leaving them to watch after him. "Wait. The kid can actually skate?"

Peter enjoyed gliding over the ice, not too fast but not too slow; he wouldn't leave the group, he'd keep an eye on them for a bit, then go back over. His neck tingled, seconds before a hand grabbed his arm, and pulled him towards someone; an arm laid over his shoulders, and he looked up at to see Tony looking down at him.

"No spidey senses?" Tony asked, eyebrow raised. Peter mumbled something that Tony couldn't quite hear. "Kid?"

"Nothing, don't worry. What are you doing here?"

"Ice skating, apparently. Who's the girl who hugged you?"

"Ned's cousin."

"Ah alright, it's his birthday today isn't it?"

"Oh, um, yeah it is. We were going out after school, he wanted to go see a movie."

"Well, Happy is picking him up now, and MJ if she'll tag along, I know she isn't my biggest fan. Birthday ice skating a good swap you think?"

"I think he'd like it, yeah." Peter said, smiling weakly at Tony.

"Kid, I haven't read my list."

"…Why?"

"Err, can I tell you…not here? We'll let Ned have a good birthday, and we can worry about me another time?"

"Sure Mister Stark." Peter said, then pushed back against Tony suddenly, sending himself gilding backwards; Tony was sent crashing to the floor.

"Parker!" He shouted, hearing Peter's laughs as the boy gained distance over the ice. Peter saw Ned walk inside, with MJ beside him; he waved over at them, and came to a stop beside the wall.

"Hey guys." He said, smiling at them.

"Dude, you just disappeared! Where'd you go?" Ned asked.

"Umm, I was kind of kidnapped?"

"You got kidnapped to go ice skating?"

"Yep." Peter said, nodding over at the team, who had found Tony.

"…Holy shit." Ned whispered, eyes going wide.

"Come on, you two are way better at skating then me." Peter said, waiting as they did up their skates and joined him on the ice.

"Best birthday ever." Ned said, smiling at Peter.

"Nah, we'll make it better, give us time." Peter said, grinning back as MJ shot between the two of them, disappearing out of view as she passed through the crowd. She slapped Peter on the shoulder as she passed, and Ned darted away, as Peter began to chase him. Peter looked over to see Tara showing the others how to skate, as Tony watched.

"Why did I let you go on the wooden beam again, Barton?" Tony asked, watching Clint try to stay balanced. Tony was shoved aside suddenly, falling into Clint and both of them crashing into the floor.

"You're it!" Peter shouted back, joining Ned and skating away.

"What the hell just happened?" Bucky asked, skating back over to them; he had picked up skating pretty easily, as did Steve, who was off skating with Natasha, because of course Natasha already knew how to skate.

"I am not it!" Tony shouted, seeing Peter and Ned through the crowd. "Son of a-"

Tony sped off, chasing after the kids; annoyingly, the three of them were much quicker than him, and smaller. They weaved through clumps of people, laughing as they went.

"Barton, remember what I said about being faster?" Tony shouted, as Clint came up beside him. 

"I don't know if this is _quite_ what you meant." Clint said, moving alongside Tony.

"I don't fucking care, go get Peter." Tony growled, and the two continued their chase. Ten minutes later, they came to a stop near where they saw Bruce sitting, watching from the seats on the other side of the short wall.

"H-how is he so fast?" Tony panted.

"We're trying to chase someone who can dodge anyone in his way. It's not fair." Clint said, leaning over the wall. "I knew we should've unspidered him when we had the chance."

"We never had the chance, we're doomed to suffer like this. Sore and out of breath. Forever." Tony moaned. His whining was interrupted by a sudden, very loud, very familiar laugh from nearby. He turned around to see Peter in tears, laughing at Ned, who had run into Natasha; they had both fallen onto the ice. Steve was looking on in horror, not sure what to do.

"Peter stop laughing!" Ned hissed, which made Peter laugh even harder. "You're like, the worst friend ever."

"You think MJ isn't laughing as well?" Peter choked out before managing to help Ned up. "You're meant to be better than me at skating."

"Peter, shut up." Ned hissed, glancing at Natasha; Steve was helping her up to her feet.

"S-sorry, about knocking you over." Ned said, looking at Natasha. Peter smiled; he loved when Ned was brave.

"Don't worry about it kid, no harm done." She said, skating past the boys, patting Ned on the shoulder as she went. Peter gave a chuckle at Ned's shocked smile, before the two skated away and left the ice.

"Sorry about your birthday plans, Ned." Peter said, as the two teens sat in the seats watching the skaters, cups of hot chocolate in hand. Peter handed one to MJ when she came over and sat with them.

"Peter, this is the best birthday ever. Apart from knocking the Black Widow over."

"You didn't die though, did you?" MJ asked, smirking at Ned. "She probably doesn't kill you while you're watching, maybe it comes later."

"MJ!" Ned shouted, and the three heard someone laugh near them; Bucky and Steve had come over. Bucky was grinning, and Steve was simply shaking his head, though he was smiling.

"Tony's sick of being cold, did you three wanna come out for lunch?" Steve said, smiling at Ned. "Your pick son, being your birthday and all."

"Oh um, sir, that's fine. My cousin is here...I'm meant to be seeing my family for dinner anyway, I'll head back with her."

Steve nodded, and turned back to look at Tony, who was still on the ice.

"Dinner instead?" Steve called out, and Tony gave a thumbs up in return.

Ned, Peter and MJ took a car with Steve and Bucky; the others followed in a taxi, and arrived at the restaurant only a minute after the first car. Tony had made arrangements for a table to be booked for the party; then decided to book a function room, so they could have a proper sit down and chat party, rather than just dinner. The restaurant did quick work getting the function room ready, and had a menu ready for Tony in only half an hour; it was approved over the phone. That was two hours ago, and now they were here, being taken to the function room.

"Mister Stark-" Peter said, sliding up beside Tony and falling into step, matching the other man's pace.

"Peter I don't want-"

"Thanks." Peter said, smiling at Tony. "This is…amazing. Ned's too shy to say anything, so…thanks, for all this."

"He's your best friend Peter, it's fine; I'm happy to do it." Tony said, smiling back. It was good to see Peter smiling. "I'll be good, no mingling, no drama; we'll all be good."

"I know." Peter said, bouncing away to chat to Ned.

Tony was true to his word, as was everyone else; they let Ned enjoy the spotlight for the night, and hung out in the back, chatting to one another. Happy dropped Ned and his immediately family, while a number of cabs dropped the visiting family off where they needed to go; many of them found that their flights had been upgraded to first class, when they arrived at the airport the next day.

"Ticket upgrades? Really?" Peter asked, stepping into the lab. Tony shouted, and fell sideways off of his chair; he didn't know Peter was in the tower.

"Kid?!" Tony shouted, staring at Peter from the floor; Peter was smiling. "Hi! Umm…what are you doing here?"

"…Visiting?"

"Oh! Good!"

"Have you read the list yet?" Peter asked, sitting on one of the tables.

"…No."

"Why not?"

"I…was worried. I don't know _why_ I was worried it was some kind of…formal resignation to your informal internship…or you tell me to get lost forever…or…I over think, alright?"

"…Mister Stark, just go read it. I'm heading off to see May before her flight today."

"You coming back?" Tony asked, suddenly worried again.

"If you've read it, I'll think of it."

"Alright kid. Have fun with May."

Peter did; he took May out for lunch, as well as going out window shopping. He waved goodbye, then hugged her a last time, before she headed off to board her flight. Peter headed out to the taxi rank to call for a ride, when he saw a taxi waiting; a lady was driving, with short black hair, combed back. She was wearing a black leather jacket, and a plain black shirt. Otherwise, she looked…Peter thought boring was most suitable but it felt so _rude._

"Sorry, are you running?" He asked, knocking on the window and smiling when she nodded. He threw his bag into the backseat and climbed in after it, pulling the door shirt and telling her where he needed to go; Avengers Tower. He figured he could surprise Mister Stark by going back.

"What do you do there? You a coffee boy?" She asked as they drove.

"Oh, I'm an intern…so basically, yeah, coffee boy."

"Yeah, to Stark." She said, not a question. Peter's neck began to tingle.

"Y-yeah…"

"You get along with him well?"

"I guess…he's my boss."

"Mmm, what about the others? You get along with them?"

"…I guess…"

"What about Barton?"

"I-"

"Think he'd still take a shot if you were in the way?"

"What?" Peter asked; his neck was going crazy.

"About to find out, welcome home kiddo; I got you a milkshake, by the way." She said, holding a white cardboard cup out to Peter, who took it without thinking. "Hurry up, kid."

Peter moved, climbed out of the car, grabbing his bag on the way and heading inside, with her following behind him. She was…boring, as he thought originally; she was wearing black jeans, and white sneakers with the rest of her outfit. No jewelry, no piercings, no visible tattoos. Peter supposed she could have _non_ visible tattoos and piercings, but he decided not to think about it too much. The elevator door dinged and opened, letting them out into the lounge. Clint looked over from the dining table.

"Hey kid, how-" Clint stopped, seeing the woman behind Peter, and the matching milkshake cups they both had in hand. He rushed over, snatching Peter's away, and going to the kitchen sink to empty it out.

"Did you drink any of it?" Clint asked. "Peter!"

"N-no, I didn't have any." Peter said, staring at Clint; Natasha came in from the bedroom hallway, and saw the woman.

"Clint."

"She gave him a drink, he said he didn't have any. Peter, come wash your hands, hot water."

Peter walked over to Clint and the man watched him wash his hands, then turned the tap off when he was satisfied Peter had done a good enough job.

"How long have you been awake?" Natasha asked the woman, who hadn't moved from where she stood, either had Natasha.

"Three days, hardly the worst." The woman said, shrugging. She walked forward and sat in one of the dining chairs, leaning back and looking over at Peter. "Never answered my question, kid."

"Don't talk to him." Clint said, stepping in front of Peter. Peter could see the woman rolling her eyes, then Clint was in front of him.

"Good to see you both." The woman said, smiling at Clint; it was a small smile, but it reminded Peter of…someone. "How long's it been?"

"Not long enough." Clint said, clenching his hands into fists.

"Calm your ruffles, feather boy. I didn't come here to kill some kid."

"Who did you come here to kill?" Natasha asked.

"That is what I'm here about."

The elevator dinged, and Tony stepped out, glaring at the woman; she turned to look at him, then looked back at Clint and Peter, as if she was simply unmoved by Tony's appearance.

"Who are you?" Tony asked, moving in front of her, keeping some distance. "Why was I alerted?"

"What are you drinking?" Natasha asked.

"Vanilla milkshake."

"And…" Clint said.

"Just vanilla, feather boy." She said, smiling around the straw as she took a sip.

"What do you want with my intern?" Tony asked.

"I am here, with a golden envelope." She said, holding up a folder made of golden cardboard.

"What the fuck does tha-" Tony was cut off by Natasha.

"Why?"

"Do you want it or not?"

"Who is she?" Peter whispered to Clint. "Clint?" Obviously, he wasn't quiet enough.

"You can tell him." She said, shrugging. "I don't care."

Natasha walked over and took the folder. She stepped back and opened it, pulling pieces of paper out; the top piece, a picture, caught her attention.

"Bruce?" She asked. Clint walked over, and took the folder from her, flicking through as well.

"Bruce? You went after…Bruce?" Clint asked, staring at her.

"His name in the files isn't right, but the pictures are him. He looked familiar, so I did some digging; imagine my surprise when I figured it out. The compounds made sense once I knew who he was."

"Compounds?" Natasha asked, pulling more papers out.

"They had a few ideas of something I could make, wanted a long distance injection; dart gun."

"You hate guns though." Clint said.

"Yes but I _love_ money."

"Well…that's true." Clint stared at the documents he had pulled out of the envelope. "Fuck…"

Tony was looking over Clint's shoulder, frowning.

"I wish I knew…anything related to chemistry." He said.

"So do I." Peter muttered off to the side.

"Sir, I have scanned the formulas and have sent them to Dr Banner, so he may give you some insight." Friday announced

"Friday!" Tony shouted, as the elevator door slid open and Bruce stepped out, frowning. "Oh, so you did it earlier but were only telling me because Bruce was on is way."

"Correct, sir."

"Tony, what are these?" Bruce asked, then noticed the woman and waved at her. "Sorry, I didn't know you had a visitor. We need to talk."

"Do it out here, seems fair to me." The woman said. "Nice to meet you, Banner."

"Tony these are…where did you get them? I'm not sure who would even be able to make them, let alone know how to use them. They're incredibly potent, they'd be dangerous-"

"Would they work on the hulk?" Tony asked. Bruce thought for a moment, and nodded slowly.

"They'd affect him but more to piss him off than anything. I'm not sure if they'd actually harm him. I'd certainly feel lousy afterwards."

"Uuuuugghh." Clint moaned, rubbing his face in his hands. Bruce noticed the folder, and saw the photo Clint was still holding.

"Is that me?" Bruce asked, eyes wide.

"Yeah…how are you feeling about not freaking out, right now?" Clint asked.

"…I'll try."

"She…" Clint said, pointing at the woman. "brought us her job file; it was you. They'd given her a fake name, but your images. She figured out who you actually are, and decided not to go ahead, for…some reason. As for the…formulas…"

"She could do it." Natasha finished, and Clint nodded.

"Not someone I ever really hoped to see again, always puts me on edge. 'The Doctor' is what people usually call her, due to how she tends to complete her jobs." Clint said.

"What's that?" Peter asked, catching her attention again.

"Poison." She said, smiling at Peter again. He agreed with Clint; she was unnerving when she was looking at you.

"What, you just go and cyanide some poor sap?" Tony asked.

"I create them. Some jobs are easily done with basic poisons; some require…more work. I create my own poisons, designed to fit whatever situation they'll be used in. Usually long term, so they don't die for a day or two, so I can get out of the area. Some are more immediate."

"So…you're like, really good at chemistry then?" Peter asked, ignoring Tony's glare.

"Very."

"Peter, _do not_ ask her for homework help." Tony scolded.

"You're like…the sweetest kid ever, go get your homework." She said, and Peter rushed off to his room. "Wasn't trying to kill him, honest. Just needed a way into this place, without getting shot."

"Why wou-"

"I am very aware of where I place with SHIELD; dead on site being the main term used."

"Look…"Clint said, sighing. "This is great but I really don't feel like owing you a favor." Peter appeared again with a workbook and a pencil case; he set himself up at the table near her.

"What's so bad about favors?" Tony asked.

"Favors in genera aren't so bad. Favors to _her_ usually end up in someone being a guinea pig."

"You say it like it's a bad thing, feather boy."

"How does he do this to people?" Tony asked, incredulous; she had pulled over Peter's question sheet and begun to work on the problems, using one of the Spiderman pencils he got for Peter as a joke.

"Do what?" Clint asked.

"…Make everyone so…pleasant."

"It is a little weird." Clint admitted, and heard footsteps behind him, as Steve and Bucky joined the group.

"Hey guys…who's that?" Steve asked, noticing the lady helping Peter with homework.

"Oh, I was really hoping he wouldn't be here." Peter heard her mutter.

"Me? Why?" Steve asked.

"He doesn't really…work for SHIELD." Clint said, glancing at Steve. "They tried. Didn't work."

"Ugh, I've been in one place too long anyway, time to get moving. Nice to meet ya kid." She said, ruffling Peter's hair as she stood up from the table. "Keep an eye on your Doctor, I'm not sure how many other people were given the job."

She grabbed her milkshake cup, giving Clint a slight smirk as she headed to the elevator and left. Clint noticed a drop of milk on the dining table. He found a cotton swab, and managed to collect enough for Tony to scan. He was convinced there was something not quite right about it.

 ** _I LOVE this lady, I'll be honest. She'll pop up a little more, but then back to regular team shenanigans! What's on Tony's list? Dundunduhhhhh._**


	43. Chapter 43 - She Has To Help

**Chapter 43**

 **She Has To Help**

As it turned out, three other people had been given the same job; Clint and Natasha found two of them while they waited on rooftops, ready to take a shot at Bruce when they had the chance; Clint and Natasha got rid of these two. The last one had realized who the target actually was, and had called it off; they weren't stupid enough to risk it.

Bruce noticed the team had been…different, lately. There was always at least one person nearby at all times; Tony had moved some of his projects to Bruce's lab under the excuse of wanting more space, and Peter had begun working on homework in his lab more often.

"So, any idea who's putting the jobs out? Tony asked Clint one morning.

"Found em." Clint said glancing at the screen Tony was reading; he'd brought his starkpad out to breakfast with him, much to Steve's annoyance.

"Oh, what happened?" Tony asked without looking up; he squeaked when Steve came up behind his chair and snatched the tablet out of Tony's hands.

"What are you reading that's so important?" Steve asked, looking at the screen. "Why are you reading about that lady who was here?"

"Curiosity got the better of me." Tony said, shrugging. "Also, Peter is never ever allowed near her. Ever again."

"Who _is_ she?" Steve asked, passing the tablet back to Tony and returning to his seat.

"She is…death, reincarted, I think." Tony said, and Clint snorted.

"What do you mean?"

"She has…god knows how many kills to her name; forget blood being on her hands, she must be swimming in it by now." Tony said, placing the tablet on the table and picking up his cup of coffee. "She's used some poisons that don't even _have a name_ because she created them. There are rumors that she can create poisons to only harm a select person, so they can be easily poisoned by exposing large crowds to it, like at a party. She's married, apparently, according to the SHIELD profile; apparently they are always within speaking distance of one another. So I wonder why he wasn't here yesterday…"

"It's in the documents, she left some details, added her own little notes. He wanted to take the shot, said a normal bullet would work. This was after she figured it out." Natasha explained. "She put a bullet in him."

"Sucks to be him then, I suppose." Clint said, glancing at Peter, who was sitting on the couch looking over a textbook. "I still don't believe she doesn't expect a favor."

"What exactly does that entail, anyway?" Tony asked.

"She's always working on new…things, and she usually needs to test them. Check symptoms, how fast it starts to work, if it's noticeable when hidden in food. It's not even shocking that she killed him, it's that she used a _gun._ I've never known her to use one, that wasn't used to fire darts; which she still hated. Only used em to make jobs easier."

"She is fucking _terrifying_." Tony said. "She was with Peter, alone. How do we know she didn't do anything?" Bruce came into the kitchen then, glowering at a piece of paper in his hand.

"What's wrong Bruce?" Steve asked. "You're okay?"

"I'm fine…just reading the results from that milkshake she was drinking." He said, and passed the paper to Tony; the man read over the paper, and his eyebrows shot up, almost flying off his face.

"Arsenic?" He half shouted; Peter looked over from the couch. "She…she was drinking arsenic?!"

"Who was?" Peter asked from over at the couch, a pencil tucked behind his ear.

"Never you mind!" Tony said, then caught himself. _An avengers fight._ "She…you definitely didn't drink anything she gave you?"

"No, she got me chocolate, she had the vanilla one. I don't like chocolate milkshakes." Peter said, returning to his homework. "Maybe arsenic tastes better in vanilla?"

"Peter, shut up. Why the fuck would she be drinking arsenic?" Tony asked out loud; it was Winter who suggested a reason.

"Tolerance." He said from the hallway, stepping into the lounge. "There is evidence you can gain a tolerance to some poisons through exposure; perhaps that is what she wants?"

"That…is actually a possible reason." Tony said, staring at the piece of paper. "Maybe she's avoiding her own work killing her in the future?"

"Possible, she used to test on herself." Natasha said and noticed the horrified looks she got in return, besides Clint; he was already aware.

"W-what, why?" Steve asked, shocked by the new information.

"Who else was she going to test on? This was before she was well known enough to use favors from people; now people tend to avoid owing her anything. Which is…part of the reason we are so anxious about it; we have two super soldiers."

"Guinea pigs." Tony said, sitting up straight. "She doesn't _know_ about Peter."

"No, she doesn't. It is information she would have mentioned, even just to let us know that she is aware." Natasha said, noticing how stiff Peter had gone.

"And SHIELD knows about her?" Bruce asked, sitting on one of the armchairs and looking over Peter's homework. "They knew and didn't do anything?"

"They knew about her, at the beginning. She was doing easy jobs, simple targets with everyday poisons. They imagined she would poison herself, or piss off someone higher up in the food chain, and wind up dead. SHIELD agents made it…somewhat known, what they thought of her." Natasha said, looking over the group, focusing her eyes on Bruce.

"Oops?" Tony asked and Natasha nodded.

"It was a few years ago now, Clint was already with SHIELD and I had only just joined. There was some…fundraiser in Paris, lots of high class type people. Rich beyond anything; the security was good…SHIELD was actually impressed, though they wouldn't say it out loud. There was a fire somewhere in the building it was being hosted at and the sprinklers went off; five days later, eighteen people were found dead, in different places. They were found in their homes, hotel rooms, some even found in airports. No symptoms; they just dropped, and were pronounced dead."

Bruce was staring at her with big eyes.

"I read about that." He said, trying to compose himself. "They couldn't identify what was used."

"She created it." Clint said. "Couple of rookie SHIELD agents found her suspected location and went to…they had no proof, who it was but they suspected her. They found her in some old warehouse, which she had filled with…canisters, I guess would be the best name for whatever she had rigged up. The agents had chest cameras; the canisters put out this…gas. They lasted three minutes before they were dead. She just stood there, and watched, then walked out of the warehouse. They suspected she had somehow made herself immune."

"So, what, SHIELD issued a challenge or something?" Tony asked, absorbing what he was being told.

"It's…weird. The SHEILD thing was a deliberate move, to show us she's serious. The fundraiser was…it was discovered that a lot of the party, and the fundraiser itself, played some part in sex trafficking and child slavery." Natasha said. "She usually only takes jobs if she believes the target deserves it, though not always, if the money is enough. The money for Bruce must've been enough."

"So…"

"No." Natasha cut Steve off. "Steve. Do _not_ fuck with her. As far as SHIELD knows, you don't even know she exists. Just leave it alone."

"Right. Alright, fine." Steve grumbled, but didn't bring it up again. They went about their days, and went into the next day, joining up again for lunch; many had skipped breakfast, they had stuff to catch up on.

"Hey Bruce." Tony said, in the lab. Well, in Bruce's lab.

"Yeah Tony?"

"Did you get a list?"

"Oh, from Peter? Yeah, everything we did basically ticked it off."

"Do I get to see it?"

"…No."

Tony grinned, but accepted Bruce's answer.

"Where's Peter?" Bruce asked a little while later. "He was in here just earlier."

"He's been cramming the study in this week, think they got a few big tests coming up. He likes studying on the roof; won't explain why."

"Maybe he's like Clint, and prefers to be high up?"

"So…what you're saying is I should get a giant cat tower for them?"

" _No."_

Bruce's one-word warning didn't seem to work, because he found Tony admiring the giant cat tower – more like a cat condo – that was now set up in the corner of the lounge.

"What do you think?" Tony asked when he noticed Bruce.

"I'm not holding Clint back." Bruce said.

"What, when he clambers it like an actual cat? He's gonna love it."

"Yeah. That's what I meant."

"Oh come on, he'll at least appreciate the joke. I hope. I'm gonna build him a treehouse when the weather is nicer."

"Why are you making a treehou- did you get a cat?" Clint asked, clambering out of a vent and landing beside Tony. "Why did you buy a cat equivalent of a castle?"

"Bruce made a comment about you preferring to be high up. So, this is the temporary solution-"

"You bought _me_ a cat castle?"

"I'm not sure you'll fit, Peter might but I am trying to tell yo-"

"Holy shit. I love it." Clint said, eyes bright, staring at the cat house. "I'm sure I'll love the tree house too but…this…oh! I forgot why I came down."

"Not for the cat house?"

"Fury called." Clint said, frowning; he was really excited about the cat castle.

"So you don't get get to play in the cat house?"

"No." He said, sulking. "Wants us to go investigate some HYDRA sightings, he's worried about the stuff they've been moving in and out of the building. Some place in France apparently."

"Alright, get everyone suiting up, we can head out shortly. I'll go chat to Peter." Tony said, heading off to the roof. He found Peter laying on his stomach, a blanket thrown down beneath him and the numerous books laid out on the floor around him.

"Heya kid, we're heading off on a mission, you coming?"

"No thanks, Mister Stark." Peter mumbled without looking away from his work.

"Wait. What?"

"I'm fine here Mister Stark."

"But…you've been studying non stop for like forever now. Can't take a break?"

"Nope."

"Well. Alright." Tony said, moving forward. He wasn't sure if Peter ignored his spidey senses around him, or if they just didn't work near Tony sometimes but the boy didn't notice Tony, until he was grabbing Peter by the waist, lifting him up.

"Mister Stark!" Peter shouted when he suddenly left the ground, Tony's arms around his waist.

"Nope! Mission time!" Tony cheered, dragging Peter away from his books, back into the tower. The others weren't expecting Tony to turn up inside the quinjet, throwing Peter onto the floor and standing there triumphantly.

"Now, I'll go put your books away so they don't get wrecked if it rains. Stay here." Tony said, spinning around and leaving the jet again.

"What…just happened?" Bucky asked, staring at Peter.

"New idea!" Tony said coming back onto the jet, holding the books Peter had been going over. "We help Peter study!"

"Uhhhhh…" The look of total horror on Peter's face is what Tony expected. He dropped the books onto the ground next to Peter and pulled the boy up to his feet. The ramp to the jet had already closed; Peter was trapped. He grabbed the stack of books, shot Tony a nasty glare, then stalked off to the pilot's quarters; the door locked behind him.

"Oddly enough, I don't think he likes the idea." Steve said from the pilot's seat. Tony just grinned and settled into the chair next to Steve's. Peter had plenty of time to study, and was drawn out of his thoughts by a knock at the door to the pilot's room; it was go time. Peter groaned, but joined the others outside.

"Mister Stark, that's a castle." Peter said, seeing the huge building in front of them.

"Huh. Fury didn't mention…that." Clint said, and the group headed off towards the castle, Peter trailing behind them. There were only three HYDRA agents in the courtyard, who were easily taken out by Clint; the others inspected the numerous wooden carts and vans that were in the courtyard.

"What _are_ these?" Tony asked, looking at the steel drums that filled each cart and van. There was nothing written on the drums, so he wasn't too eager to open one up and find out, lest it be acid or something.

"There's more inside." Peter said over the comms.

"You're inside already?" Tony asked.

"Got bored."

"If you're studying, I'm not going to be impressed." Tony said, but he was smiling. "How many are there?"

"Like…a lot, they're crammed in here, there's a makeshift lab in one room, the whole place smells like…chlorine?"

"Shit, the kid's right." Clint said over his comm. "Me and Nat just got inside, we won't be able to stay in here for long, it's like a swimming pool, only someone forgot to add the water after they put the chlorine in. Good god."

"I'll head in; the suit should be able to filter it out." Tony said, moving towards the castle and heading inside through the large main door. "Peter can you see anyone inside?"

"Nope, can't see any bad guys." Peter said, swinging up to a ledge above the main door. "Maybe they took a holiday?"

"It's important to use up your holiday leave, that's true." Tony said, walking through the cramped main area; it was _full_ of the same steel drums they'd found outside. "How are you guys goi-"

Tony was cut off by a sudden explosion, followed by an even louder one. Something slammed against the suit; a wave, some kind of energy. The suit whirred, and died; it had lost power. He clambered to open the suit and step out into the room, when there was another explosion; this one was nearby, off to the side, in a corner of the room. The room shook, and Tony fell to his knees, something nearby had been damaged, and his hands were wet.

"Pet-" Tony tried to speak, but everything was blurring. "Jeez…that's…"

"Tony, are you alright?" Steve's voice came over the comm. Tony couldn't make his mouth move, except to groan. "Spiderman, can you see anything?"

Steve only resorted to calling Peter by his hero name when the situation had gone south; Peter clambered higher, moving himself to the top of the ceiling, so he could see the whole room. He looked over the room, and saw the suit, with Tony hunched over, on his knees, only a couple of feet away from it. A bunch of the steel drums had been damaged and a deep green liquid had covered the ground, leaking from the drums. Tony was on his hands and knees in the puddle of liquid, wobbling, ready to drop.

"I can see him. There's…liquid from the drums on the ground, he's kneeling in a big puddle of it." Peter said, webbing the ceiling and lowering himself slowly towards Tony; he was glad for the mask because even with it, the smell of the liquid was almost too much. "Mister Stark?" Peter called out; Tony didn't respond. His arms finally gave way, and he dropped, his face landing in the puddle. His chest ached, he couldn't breathe; his panicked attempts at sucking in air only sucked in the liquid, which burnt his throat and mouth.

"Something's wrong." Peter said, lowering himself enough so he could hear Tony's struggling breathing. "He can't breathe."

"Hardly any of us can now that the stuff's out in the open, are you okay?" Clint asked.

"It's not great but the mask helps filter out a lot of it. Oh, he's moving!"

Tony wasn't moving purposefully, so much as his hands were driven by the pain in his arms and chest, to scratch at his irritated skin. He felt so hot, and his skin was in danger of being scratched off completely. He had rolled over onto his back, so he could scratch at his chest, when something grabbed his hand, then the other, and he couldn't keep scratching. So, he screamed instead.

"Peter?" Steve asked, hearing the sudden new noise; someone screaming.

"I don't…want to touch him, he's covered in the stuff from the drums. I'll try and move him with webs, but I don't know if I'll be able to get him- oh, I have an idea." Peter said, spying a trolley nearby, it was low, with a flat bed for moving heavy objects. He webbed the trolley and pulled it closer, knocking more drums over. When it was close enough, he webbed Tony properly and lifted him, pulling just enough so he landed on the trolley, and stuck, thanks to the webbing around him. Peter dropped down and landed on the trolley, letting his feet stick to the bed; he was able to web the outer edges of the front door, and pulled dragging the trolley along with him. They managed to make it out, where the rest of the team were waiting; Peter pulled away majority of the webbing, but left the clumps holding the man's hands.

"Keep him on the trolley, get it on the jet, get Friday to get as much air circulation through the jet as possible." Steve ordered, and the team followed. "We need a doctor, get Bruce online." Steve said once he was in the jet; Friday put the call through, and Bruce appeared on a screen to Steve's side.

"Steve? What's…what's going on?" Bruce asked, trying to hide a yawn.

"Something's happened to Tony. He got exposed to a liquid in the HYDRA base, and it's taken effect. He can't breathe properly; he's determined to scratch at himself. He was screaming earlier. Peter got him out of the base, without touching him, thank god."

"Any idea what he touched?" Bruce asked, frowning.

"It smelt like chlorine, is the best we could figure out. Tony and Peter were the only one who could get inside the base due to their suits filtering the air. Peter said that even with his suit, it was still powerful."

"Okay…"

"Bruce?"

"Steve. If it's a poison, we don't have any way to knowing it's timeframe. It could take hours to kill him, or months. It could simply be a temporary situation; w _e don't know._ I'm hours away, we might not have the time. You need a proper doctor, not me."

Peter looked up from where he was sitting; he'd been staring at Tony.

"A doctor?" he asked. The others looked at him.

"Yes. I'm not sure what operatives SHIELD has where you are, but-"

"Do we have any idea where that poison lady went, after she left the tower?" Peter asked; Natasha and Clint frowned.

"No." Clint growled.

"What does she want? Money? We've got plenty!" Peter said, standing up.

"Peter, she doesn't _do_ favors." Clint argued. "We are not owing her."

"Then I will!" Peter shouted. "Friday, have you got any idea where she is?"

"The Doctor was last reported being seen by SHIELD agents on a flight to France; her location after leaving the airport is unknown. Multiple reports of sightings, none confirmed."

Peter nodded; he made up his mind. He would find her and she would help.


	44. Chapter 44- I Heard You Like Guinea Pigs

**Chapter 44**

 **I Heard You Like Guinea Pigs**

Peter swung from a building, landing on another rooftop, frowning.

"Kid-" Clint said, over his comms.

"Not discussing it. We don't have anyone else." Peter was ready to argue.

"No…we…we've seen her."

"What?" Peter stopped; he was frozen.

"We may not have told you that we followed you, and have been searching as well. Steve stayed with Tony, and Bruce is staying online for us, in case he thinks of anything. Sending you information for the car she just got into."

Peter thanked the universe silently, then set out towards the location Clint said they'd last seen her; Friday notified him when the car was nearby. The taxi pulled into a quiet side street, and Peter dropped from his web; he landed on the front of the car, not enough to damage it, but hard enough that his presence was obvious. He also decided he'd drop onto the hood of the car, rather than the roof, just in case they didn't notice him. The taxi screeched and came to a sudden halt; Peter saw the back door fly open, and ducked just a second before a dart found his neck. He could feel the air from it as it rushed past him.

He saw her, arm extended with an odd looking gun pointed at him. She didn't move; he could hear movement, of glass rubbing against metal, as another dart slid into place. His neck tingled, and someone to the side of the car moved; she was quick, and had already fired at the man before Peter could stop her. The man dropped to the ground, not moving, gun laying next to him. Peter could see the SHIELD uniform from where he stood on the car.

"Get. Lost." She spat, staring at him; she didn't _look_ angry. She looked unimpressed and tired, as if this was just a minor inconvenience in her day; maybe that's all it was. She had changed into a far more impressive outfit; a sharp black woman's suit, with darts in the jacket that made her figure far more obvious; it gave her a more powerful air than she'd had in the tower.

"Have to say, most people have already tried shooting me again by now." He said.

"Knew I should've put something in that kids' drink, might've made you lot fuck off." She muttered. "Not much interested in proving myself to you. So, go tell Barton to-"

"It was my idea, to come find you." He said, and noticed her finger clench just a bit tighter on the trigger. "We were at some castle, on a HYDRA mission."

"Mhm." She said, squeezing her finger even tighter. "Still don't care."

"It was poison. We think." He spat out; her grip didn't lessen but she also didn't fire. Good. "Stark fell in." He said; it would certainly come across as weird if he called Mister Stark, Mister Stark to this lady. "What's the most you ever made from a job?"

"Three quarters of a million."

"Fine." He said, taking a deep breath. "Pick a number an-"

"You smell like a swimming pool." She said, cutting Peter off; the gun was still raised.

"Err yeah, that's what the stuff smelt like."

"Look. I don't have time for you. I can make the money any day, in a couple of jobs-"

"Hawkeye said you need guinea pigs." He blurted out. "I'm…similar, to Captain America, serum wise. Not quite the same, like a lesser version." Peter noticed her eyes narrow a little; her lip flicked up, in the smallest grin.

"You're offering a lot to someone you don't trust."

"I'm known for blindly trusting most people." He said, shrugging; Tony would agree with that. "Part of my charm."

"I'll need a sample." She said after a pause. "Where did you find the stuff?"

"Um, I'm probably covered in it; I tried _not_ to be. But, that doesn't seem to matter in this job." Something was coming towards him; Peter held up his hand to catch the tiny glass vial, filled with the same liquid. He glanced up and saw Clint waving at him. Huh. _Oh. The comms._

"You got handy reflexes." She said, holding her hand up; Peter threw the vial and he caught it, sliding it into a pocket on her jacket. "Come on then, I've got work to do. You can keep me company." She said, motioning a finger at Peter; follow me. He shrugged, and did as she said. They came to a warehouse, which was actually some kind of lab. Peter was excited; he wanted to explore everything, even if he didn't understand it. He just liked labs.

"Christ sit down; you're making me tired just watching you." She said, dropping into a work stool and sliding away to another lab table. They hung out for a few hours, Peter laying on the ground staring at the ceiling, while she worked in silence. It was strange to be in a lab that was so quiet. He rolled his head, and saw a little area to the side; it looked like a kitchen.

"Can I get a drink?" He asked, dying for some water.

"Go nuts; nothing from a green container. Blue is fine. Make me a coffee while you're there. White, three sugars." She called over from her work space, not looking at him. He jumped and moved over to the kitchen, and set himself to making a coffee, and a hot chocolate with a small box of chocolate powder he'd found. He looked up, staring out a window as he stirred the two drinks, thinking to himself.

Clint must have heard what he said to her; they probably all had. Tony as well, though Peter wasn't sure if the man was coherent enough to understand it. He'd likely get told off, especially by Steve and Clint; oh well. He'd made the decision, even if he regretted it just a little bit now.

Movement outside caught his eye; he looked up to see something in the trees nearby. He jumped backwards into a flip, springing himself up from the ground as the window exploded inwards. Someone climbed in through the window; HYDRA.

"Ah, little spider. Not so good at hiding, are we?" The man asked. "Who is this that you've dragged into your mess? Your team has a habit of dragging civilians in to fix your issues; how many of them die? Odd, for someone who does not like seeing people die."

"I don't have that issue." She said, behind him, as two little darts flew past Peter's neck, and found the man's shoulder. The man smirked, unimpressed.

"You are a decent shot, no matter, you are unimportant." The man said, raising his gun; his arm froze half way up, he couldn't hold the weapon anymore and it tumbled to the ground. She pressed something into Peter's hand as she walked past. The man let out a groan as his arm began to shake and he dropped to his knees.

"Auto injector." She said, nodding at the door they had come in through. Peter hesitated, then heard the man gargles, and the man fell forward, laying on his stomach; this was different to the cyanide. Peter didn't hesitate again, he ran, and swung his way back to the jet, where he found the others. He crouched beside Tony, pressing the injector against the man's skin; it hissed as the little spring pushed the needle into the arm, and the odd purple fluid flowed out into Tony.

"So. What now?" Clint asked, when nothing happened immediately.

"We should leave." Steve said. "We should get back to the tower. SHIELD medical is the next stop, if this doesn't work."

They all agreed and settled into their seats as the jet too off; the flight home would take some time. Peter was the one to carry Tony and place him into the medical cot, ignoring any dampness in the man's clothing; he didn't care about the liquid anymore. Natasha and Clint said they were going to visit SHIELD, something about Fury wanting to talk to them; he wasn't really listening. He sat on the ground near the medical cot, leaning against the wall; he was still wearing his suit, he'd just removed the mask. He was staring ahead; if he closed his eyes he could smell the liquid again and it made his stomach churn.

Bruce came back later, after checking over Steve, and found Peter asleep against the wall. He decided to leave the boy; he thought Peter could do with getting some sleep.

Clint and Natasha had flown back to France; they had told Steve they were going to SHIELD for a debrief. They could deal with a lecture later. They watched the little black car leave the warehouse, heading through the city until it left the busy roads and headed towards the castle they had been at only a short time ago. The air still smelt of chlorine as they watched from afar, moving closer when the car stopped at the courtyard gates. The Doctor climbed out, dragging a man in HYDRA uniform behind her; Clint was surprised the man was still alive. The gates opened slowly, revealing the courtyard and the six or so men waiting inside. Natasha and Clint climbed up, to watch from a castle tower. She let the man go and he toppled to the ground, where she raised the odd looking gun Clint had always seen with her; she fired once at the man, the dart sticking into his neck.

She took aim, and began to fire at the HYDRA men, as they scurried to find their weapons; Natasha and Clint took a few shots as well, as more men came from within the castle. She stayed in one spot, firing as people approached her. Clint didn't like to think about what might be in the darts, so he focused on shooting at people. Finally, there was only one man left, who came out through the main door, a large rifle in his hands; he was sneering at the woman saying something Natasha and Clint couldn't quite hear.

She stared at the man, who was insulting her, in a mixture of English and German. An arrow came from above, slicing into the man's hand, causing him to drop his gun from the sudden pain. She slowly reloaded her dart gun, with a new vial; it looked familiar, as did the odd green liquid inside of it. She fired, and easily found the man's neck; she reloaded the gun, and fired two more of the original darts she had used on the other men. She turned away as the man dropped, and headed back to her little black car; Clint and Natasha were waiting beside it. She gave them a small salute, stopping a few feet from the pair.

"Strange selection for a pick up team." She said.

"Fury would never have us as a pick up team; terrible idea." Clint said. "He hasn't woken up yet."

"Did you think it would be immediate?" She asked, pulling a coat from the back seat of the car; it had begun to rain. "It takes time."

"He doesn't understand what a favor means." Natasha said.

"He seemed to have a good idea. I've watched the news, figured he was some kind of serum accident gone justice." She said, pulling the driver door open. "I am in the ballpark of refusing to believe someone so painfully good exists. He's forgiven. He doesn't owe me anything."

"But-"

"I want six weeks off radar. SHIELD doesn't find out about my warehouse for two weeks; I'll be gone by then."

"You're leaving France." Natasha said, frowning.

"Change of scenery. Maybe Italy, get a vineyard, a fancy race car. I'll learn how to make wine." She said, pulling a box out of the car and throwing it at Clint, who caught it. "Banner figured out what the substance is, made something that could neutralize it. That's what you tell SHIELD. There's instructions in the box for how much to use per volume. Have Banner read over it, so he can sound convincing to SHIELD." She said, climbing into the driver's seat and slamming the door closed. The little car came to life and drove away, clattering as it did.

Peter woke up on the floor, having fallen to the side; he was curled up, holding a blanket someone had brought down to him.

"Kid?" The voice was weak; Peter looked through his half closed eyelids to see Tony, kneeling on the ground in front of him. "Where the fuck are we?"

"Mister Stark?" Peter asked, throwing the blanket aside and rushing over to Tony, who hadn't moved.

"Who? Is that me?" Tony asked, staring at the floor under him. "Sorry…I don't feel very good…"

"Peter?" Steve called out from the hallway; Tony scrambled, moving back onto his hands and feet, but so he was kind of sitting, hiding being Peter. "Friday said Tony woke up, how's he doing?"

Steve came into the room, and saw Peter crouched on the ground with a terrified looking Tony behind him. Tony had grabbed hold of Peter's arm and was digging in with his fingernails, hard.

"Don't let him take it." Tony whispered, tugging on Peter's arm. "I need it; he can't take it. Don't let him. Please don't let him."

"It's alright." Peter whispered, laying a hand on Tony's. "Are you scared of him?" Tony simply nodded in response. "I'll get rid of him, hang on. You gotta let go, alright?"

Tony seemed to hesitate but he eventually let go, pulling his arms to his chest, watching Peter. Peter stood up slowly and turned to look at Steve, then walked over. There was a quick mumble of 'sorry' from Peter, before he grabbed the back of Steve's shirt and pulled backwards hard, throwing Steve out into the hallway, before the door slid shut.

"Wow!" Tony said, staring at Peter with huge eyes. "That guy was huge! You must be strong."

"Oh um, yeah, a bit."

"Are you a super hero?" Tony asked, staring at Peter's suit.

"Yeah, I suppose." Peter said, smiling gently at the man who was staring at him. "How are you feeling?"

"O-okay…I think. My head hurts a little. I'm kind of hungry too."

"We can get you something to eat if you like. We've gotta go upstairs though." Peter said gently, letting Tony decide what he wanted to do. Tony decided he was okay with going upstairs and let Peter help him to his feet; Peter had to support Tony while they made their way upstairs to the penthouse.

"This place is huge! Do you live here?" Tony asked when they stepped into the penthouse from the elevator.

"Sometimes, I have a few places to live." Peter said, pulling a microwave meal from the freezer and reading over the box before he placed it into the microwave to heat up. "I visit you here a lot though."

"Oh! Do _I_ live here?"

"Sure do, this is your floor. You own the building." Peter said, handing a bowl of hot pasta to Tony as he sat next to the man on the couch.

"I…do? Why?"

"You're rich, I guess? Best reason I've got. Your whole team lives here."

"I have a team?"

"Yep. The big guy from earlier is part of it."

"But…he…" Tony mumbled, he'd lost his train of thought. "I don't like him."

"Why?"

"H-he…wants it. He can't have it…" Tony couldn't breathe; he was panicking.

"It's okay! You can stay up here, he can't get in."

"W-will…will you keep him away?"

"Course I will." Peter said, smiling at Tony. It seemed to calm the man and he began to eat the pasta. They sat in silence once Tony was done eating. Peter put a movie on, and let Tony lean against him; the man eventually fell asleep, leaning against Peter. Peter adjusted himself so Tony could lay against him comfortably and sat in silence as he watched the movie, paying attention to Tony's breathing as the man slept.

Peter eventually fell asleep too and was woken up by being suddenly thrown from the couch, landing hard on he ground.

"You can't have it!" Tony shouted somewhere and the room and a foot met Peter's ribs, before he could react. "You already tried before; you're not getting it!"

"Mister Sta-" The foot came into Peter's chest again; he coughed as the wind left his lungs. "I-I…I don't want…"

Someone dropped to their knees beside Peter, and grabbed him, pulling him onto their lap; they held him there while their body rocked back and forth. Peter could hear sobbing.

"I…I know you…you're so nice. I can't believe…oh my god…" Tony was mumbling between heavy sobs, trying to breathe. "I-I…I don't want anyone to touch it…I don't want to go back…so much sand…"

Sand? Oh! Peter realized Tony must have been talking about Afghanistan; he thought he was in danger. Peter let the man hold him as he rocked; eventually Tony seemed to pass out, either from exhaustion or a need for air, Peter wasn't sure which. Peter tucked the man into bed and ask Friday to alert him if Tony woke up, then he went to find the others; they were in the training room.

"Hey Peter, everything okay?" Steve asked, lowering his hands; he'd been sparring with Bucky.

"Yeah…sorry about earlier…"

"It's fine, what was wrong? Tony looked…" Steve couldn't find the right words beside _horrified._

"I think…he thinks he's in Afghanistan. I only know a little bit about it…you guys probably have a better idea what happened." Peter said, looking at Steve, but looking past the man, avoiding eye contact.

"Shit." Clint said, lowering his bow; he had been doing some target practice. Natasha was the target. "So what's going on?"

"He doesn't seem to know who any of us are, he was frightened of Steve earlier…he threw me off the couch earlier, then had some kind of breakdown afterwards." Peter said, squeezing his hands into fists; he wanted to cry. He wished he could help more.

"So, not a fan of me, doubt he'd like Bucky much either. Maybe…maybe Bruce? If he still remembers some science, it might be good to talk to Bruce." Steve said, nodding. Peter headed off to find Bruce, who agreed to come see Tony with an ' _of course!_ ' as he hurried after Peter. They came back to the penthouse to find Tony sitting on the couch watching TV; he was watching clips of Ironman in action.

"Hey kid!" Tony said, beaming at Peter; Tony was sitting on the floor with Peter's schoolbooks open on the floor around him. "Who's that?"

"He's a friend, he wanted to come hang out. That okay?"

"…Maybe. I've been trying to help with your homework." Tony said, gesturing to the workbook he had in his lap. "I'm not very good at biology stuff though." He said, frowning.

"I could try and help." Bruce said, smiling at Tony. "I'm a doctor."

"Oh!" Tony beamed again, smiling at Bruce. The three settled on the floor and worked on Peter's school work. Bruce hoped that Tony would be better soon, or that he'd at least get comfortable with the others. He'd have to wait and see.

 _ **The scene where Nat and Clint go back to France, should be read while listening to the last part of the song Chlorine by Twenty One Pilots. Imagine it all happening in slow motion, like something from a fancy movie. That's how I imagined it happening anyway.**_


	45. Chapter 45 - A Sentimental Kid

**Chapter 45**

 **A Sentimental Kid**

Four days later and Tony was no better; he seemed to like Bruce and watched the man work in the lab, chattering away beside him as Peter worked on school work nearby. Clint was sitting in the lounge, Bucky and Natasha on the seats nearby; Steve was in the kitchen, watching the TV screen as Clint clicked the call button on the starkpad he was holding. The TV rang, and rang, and rang; none of them were expecting much and Clint was almost ready to give up, when the call clicked. It had been accepted. The screen came to life, and they could all see a familiar face, sitting on an outdoor porch, looking out over a large vineyard.

Peter walked past the group, heading into the kitchen to get a bowl of soup from Steve.

"There you are kid!" She said with a smile, pulling her sunglasses up to show her eyes; they were dark underneath, she was obviously tired. "How's the homework?"

Peter stared at the screen, gave a quick 'good' before running out to take the soup to Tony.

"Oh dear. What's wrong with the kid?" She asked, leaning back in the wooden recliner she'd been laying in. "And who is the scary suit man who turned up at my house?"

"A friend." Clint answered.

"Mmm, didn't know you were friends with SHIELD, feather brain; thought you just worked for them."

"It's…a little complicated." Clint said; Natasha snorted. Complicated was an understatement.

"Hmm, whatever. What's the call for? I thought I had six weeks."

"You do." Clint said. "He knows what happened. We just…something new has happened."

"Oh dear- _who are you?"_ She asked, eyes finding Bucky and the metal arm. "You weren't in France, I hope; I'd be upset if Barton kept you a secret."

"No, I didn't. We were dealing with…other HYDRA issues at the time." Clint said, glancing at Bucky.

"Understatement, Barton." Bucky remarked, smirking.

"Stark's got no idea who he is." Clint said suddenly, staring at the screen. "Doesn't know he has money, doesn't know about the suit…doesn't really know who his intern is. He's got no idea who we are, he's terrified of Steve. We think he's…gone back, to when he got kidnapped way back in Afghanistan."

She leant back in her seat and they could see Coulson standing off to the side, just for a moment before he moved. She had pulled a pen from somewhere and was busy spinning it around her fingers, in quick patterns, she was frowning.

"Do we know what happened, in Afghanistan? Were there any injuries to his chest?" She asked.

"Yes." Natasha answered; nobody needed specifics.

"Where was he scratching the most, after he was poisoned?"

"Chest and neck." Natasha said.

"It _is_ possible that the pain in the area triggered a memory, making him think he's back in Afghanistan, receiving whatever treatment he got when he was there. High amounts of trauma can affect memory. It _could_ also be brain damage, either from the poison itself or the fumes. Is anyone else sick?"

"No, just Tony, nobody else was exposed. Why?"

"What he experienced, wasn't the…expected, outcome. It was _meant_ to be applied by gas, through some aerators they had been working on in the castle. Likely wanted a large scale attack, it looked more like a hallucinogen then a poison. The drums must have been a concentrated mix, and he was exposed to something much stronger than the makers had planned."

"Can we do anything?" Steve asked, noticing Peter come back from the elevator; there was a long cut down Peter's cheek. "What happened?" Peter shrugged, and ignored Steve by turning away from the man.

"Mmm, it's hard to tell this early on. Some people take a little while to remember every, some are overnight while some won't remember quite everything, ever."

"But-"

"Barton. I did what I could. I'm not one who let him flap around in a puddle of poison. Now get lost, before I develop a keener interest in that intern." She said, and the call ended. Clint let out a sigh and leant back in his seat.

"Well, went better than I thought." Bucky said. "She actually answered."

Peter was looking at the cut in the mirror near the elevator, frowning. It had begun to heal; it would be gone before he got to school. Still annoying though. He grabbed his backpack and stepped into the elevator, heading off to school. He would remember now to startle confused Tony in the future. Especially in the kitchen.

"Peter!" Ned said, finding Peter in the hallway on their way to biology. Peter hated chemistry but he sort of understood it, biology seemed to confuse him; of course, the teacher didn't help. Mr. Wellbry was an ancient man, who hated students and seemed to hate being alive. He especially seemed to dislike Peter; he didn't believe Peter had an internship, and he didn't believe Peter was bad at biology, he simply believed Peter was lazy. He told them as much as well, with regular comments about lazy students, and throwing sudden questions at Peter, which simply embarrassed Peter in front of the class.

"Hey Ned, what's up?" Peter asked; he felt sick. They had assignments due in today and hardly any of then had even received their drafts back.

"Did you ever get your draft back from Wellbry?"

"Nope, you?"

"He marked like three sentences, and that was it. What are we gonna do?"

"We? You'll still pass, I'm screwed." Peter whined; they were almost at the classroom.

"MJ is so lucky she changed to political studies." Ned said with a resigned sigh as they walked into the class. Something was…off; the room was no longer musty, and the damp smell was gone. All of the windows were open, for the first time ever, and there was a small candle at the front of the room, which Peter could see smoke near; it had only just been blown out. Peter and Ned went to their usual desks and sat down, waiting for the yelling to begin. Flash leant forward from his behind Peter.

"Oi Parker, maybe you'll be able to pay attention now." The other boy whispered, laughing as he sat back. Peter noticed the person at the desk now; it was _not_ Mr. Wellbry. It was a younger lady teacher, with her dark hair pulled into a tight bun; she was wearing a neat black dress and dark framed glasses. Peter could hear the tapping of heels as she moved her chair back so she could get out of her seat, to stand in front of the class.

"Good morning everyone. My name is Mrs. Bennetti. I will be your permanent teacher for the remainder of the year." She said, looking over the class slowly. "I have been made aware you have an assignment due today."

Peter sank back into his chair; oh no.

"However, I am of the understanding that _many_ of you did not receive a draft back. I believe this to be rather unfair, to expect an assignment handed in when you have no feedback. If you need a draft returned, I have put a list on the corner of my desk for you write your name down, and I will look over them tonight. I have extended your assignment hand in until next Wednesday, giving you plenty of time to go over and redo anything that needs fixing." She gave a small nod, before moving back to the desk and sitting in her chair.

Peter was sitting up now, staring at the woman. No way. This was too good; he should've failed.

"I was also told that there will be some sort of parent meeting day tomorrow, which should be…interesting. For today, you may work on anything you have for others subjects while I sort through the box of papers I was given this morning."

Peter immediately turned to face Ned so they could go over chemistry flashcards, as well as English papers; they marked each others work, then began to plan what they could change. Once the bell for class end rang, they quickly moved out to the hall; both wrote their names down on the list to have a draft marked. The day went quickly, a little too quickly for peter; he sort of regretted getting Tony to sign the form. He wondered if the man would even show up. Surely he had more important stuff to do, then come to Peter's school for a day. He suspected he was right when he turned up to school the next day, by himself. Ned's dad was there; he worked in construction. Peter realized Tony wouldn't even be able to come; since he didn't know he _was_ Tony.

"Good morning everyone." Ms. Bennetti said as she walked into the room to find her students, and a number of adults, waiting. The group fell into happy chatter when Ms. Bennetti lead them down the hall to a larger room, where there was a hot drink station and a table of finger foods set up. "They wanted me to do some kind of speech thing, which I thought was silly; you're higher schoolers and adults, not children." She said, letting the group fall into natural chatter, some people moving around the room to chat to others. Peter could _feel_ Flash staring at him across the room and he knew the other boy was smirking.

There was a crash from outside the room, in the hallway, followed by deep laughter.

"You'll both be ice cubes soon!" Peter recognized the voice immediately; Clint. "Who even invited you?!"

"Same person who invited you!" Bucky shouted, still laughing. There was another sound; someone falling into a wall, then the doorknob turned and the door flew open, revealing Clint.

"Oh for god's sake." Peter mumbled, laying his face against one of his hands, the other arm draped over his chest. "I swear if those two are-"

"Barton!" Bucky shouted, shoving Clint into the room, so that everyone could see Bucky; metal arm on display, due to the black singlet he was wearing. "When I told you to move your fat ass, I wasn't making a suggestion."

"Peter!" Clint shouted, finding Peter in the crowd. "There you are!"

"Yes. Here I am." Peter said, with a sigh.

"Morning, gentlemen. Can I help you?" Ms. Bennetti said, pulling the attention of the two men to her. She was staring at them, arms folded over her chest with an eyebrow raised just above the the rim of her dark glasses. She was wearing a dress again; it was white, with little black birds all over it, and tall black heels.

"Oh." Bucky said; the air left his chest. Steve walked in and saw Bucky and the grin the man had on his face, then saw the woman and rolled his eyes.

"We're here to see Peter." Steve said, smiling sheepishly.

"You're _all_ his parents?"

"Well…no…" Steve said, rubbing his neck.

"Either is Tony!" Clint shouted, pouting.

"Barton!" A voice came from down the hall; Tony. Correction, a pissed off Tony. "Literally no one invited you, so why the hell did you take MY CAR to visit MY INTERN?!"

Tony came into view, stepping into the room, glaring at his three team mates.

"You're all fired." Tony said, resting his hands on his hips. "You're all fired, and I'm giving your jobs to Peter."

"What?!" Clint shouted.

"He isn't a dirty car thief, like someone I'm looking at!" Tony said, looking up, and finding Peter. "Peter! Favourite intern!"

"Mister Stark, we've been over this. Only intern." Peter said, sighing but smiling at the man. When had this happened? What had got Tony back to…being Tony?

"I believe I still need an answer." Ms. Bennetti said; Peter almost laughed at the look on Tony's face. Clint felt his pocket vibrate, and quickly darted out of the room.

"Barton!" Tony shouted.

"Spy business!" Clint yelled back from the hallway.

The call ended before Clint even answered it; Coulson, what the fuck?

"Are you finishing high school? Good for you." Phil said from further down the hall.

"Uhh, hey spooky babysitter…I'm not doing anything-"

"I would say it's okay, Rogers could keep you in line but I think he's enjoying this as much as you and Barnes."

"I think you might be right. What's going on? You never contact me in public. Not in person, anyway."

"Got the news just earlier, came to tell you in person."

"Coulso-"

"Amy Hart passed away. Official time of death was exactly one past eight this morning."

"Oh." Clint said in a whisper. "Well, that's an and to an era, isn't it?"

"SHIELD medical was prepped for an autopsy. Fury vetoed it, saying it was one of the stupidest things SHIELD had ever considered doing."

"He's not wrong. Why would they want to aut- they want the virus?"

"They want something to study. She's being cremated. Burial is this afternoon." Coulson said, nodding. "I'll send you the address. Visit when you can."

"But- fine, alright." Clint said with a grumble. He went back into the classroom, to find the party having returned to full swing. Barnes handed a plate of tiny sandwiches to Barton when he rejoined the group.

"So, who is she?" Bucky asked, jabbing Peter with an elbow.

"Ow! Knock that off, she's my new teacher for biology."

"Oh. I need to go back to school." Bucky said, ignoring the slap Steve gave him on the shoulder. "Don't touch me Rogers, she'll get the wrong idea."

"Oh for-" Stve muttered, rolling his eyes. Bucky was grinning.

"Both of you need to calm down." Peter hissed at them. "It's her second day, don't scare her off."

"Peter, she looks like someone who would require _a lot_ to make her run off." Tony said, smirking at Peter. "She reminds me of Pepper. Which is terrifying."

The day went by quickly, and it seemed like everyone _loved_ it. Ms. Bennetti smiled at them all as they left. Clint headed off on his own, walking down the street rather than joining the others in the car.

"SHIELD business." He had told them, so he wouldn't be asked anything further.

He climbed over the fence into the small burial yard, and walked through until he found the right grave.

"Peter, you're a pain in the ass." He said, looking over his shoulder to see Peter sitting on the fence; Peter waved at him from the fence, smiling. "What do you want?"

"Mister Stark was doing that thing where he said he wasn't worrying but he's obviously worried about something." Peter said and shrugged. "He says he doesn't worry about other people much but he's a liar."

"I think it's mostly you he worries about." Clint said; Peter looked at the ground, ignoring the comment.

"What are you doing out here?" Peter asked.

"Visiting someone."

"Oh." Peter said, still looking down. "Who is it?"

Clint paused. What was the kid actually up to?

"She…was a member of SHIELD." Clint said finally, looking down at the gravestone. It was white marble with gold accents; gaudy, just like the woman had been.

"Did you work with her?" Peter asked, standing beside Clint now.

"Not much, thank god." Clint said with a snort. "We were…on protection duty for her and her husband. Such a miserable job, Natasha nearly ended them both herself."

"Were they annoying?"

"Nasty, awful people. Rich, not nearly at Tony's level but…up there. Hated anyone they thought _might_ be poorer than them, even other rich people, and seemed to hate Natasha for some reason. I think the husband had a thing for her and the wife knew about it." Clint said, shrugging. "Put me off rich folks for awhile, I'll be honest. Type of people to buy the houses around their own, in case people they didn't like wanted to move in."

"I'm glad Mister Stark isn't like that." Peter whispered, more to himself than to Clint. "How did she die? Was she old?"

"In her…thirties, nearly forties, I think. Never asked, never cared. She was sick."

"Oh. With what?"

"…We called it Crow's disease, with an apostrophe. It was named after someone."

"Oh, did that someone discover it?"

"…They developed it."

"…How do you develop a disease?"

"You'd have to ask her. Might need a séance to do it though."

"They died as well?"

"Years ago. They were sick already, hit the life expectancy a few years ago."

"Did they get buried as well?" Peter asked, staring at the grave.

"What, the person who made it? Nah, never found a body. Not a pretty way to go, what they had."

"So…they could've died anywhere? Just…alone…" Peter trailed off, looking around the small cemetery. He had a weird relationship with cemeteries; they were incredibly peaceful but he hated how sad they all were. Nobody seemed to care what the grounds looked like, grass overgrew fences in certain areas, while flowerbeds were left to fend for themselves. He wandered away from Clint while the man spoke quietly to himself, looking at the grave, and began to pull weeds out of the garden bed. It wouldn't do much good, as the flowers needed mulch and a proper watering to really help, maybe a shade cloth for the really sunny days that tended to cook the flowers.

Clint watched as Peter tried to get water flowing through the hose he found nearby, but no water came through the water tap it was attached to.

"Peter, where'd ya go?" Clint called out, pretending not to have been watching. "I'm about to head back to the tower. You coming?"

"Sure." Peter said, dropping the house and heading over to Clint; the two of them walked back to the tower, without saying anything. Peter headed off to his room once they arrived. Tony found Peter laying on his stomach on the bed, arms curled around a pillow; Peter's eyes were red, and Tony could see that they were damp.

"Hey kid, what's up?" Tony asked, sitting on the edge of the bed. Peter gave a sniffle before looking at Tony; the man suspected that Peter didn't like being seen so…emotional. It was vulnerability and even though Tony was close to him, it was always hard to be vulnerable around people, even if you knew them well; he was an expert on it.

"What if…we never buried him?" Peter asked in a whisper.

"Buried who?" Tony asked, and frowned; he had read his list. "Your uncle?"

 _Tony's List of Things To Do For Peter_

 _Meet Ben_

Peter nodded, and sniffle again.

"Why wouldn't you bury him, kid? You loved the guy, you and May. What happened? Did Barton say something?"

"Y-yeah but not about…he doesn't know about Ben." Peter said, flinching a bit when Tony reached over, and pulled Peter closer to that Peter was leaning against his shoulder; it was hard to get the boy to sit up, but Tony succeeded eventually.

"What happened?"

"He went to visit some…cemetery, some SHIELD lady died. She got buried and…the person who got the SHIELD lady sick, which is how she died, just…she was sick too, she would've died somewhere…what if she was alone?" Peter whispered. "Nobody deserves that."

"No kid, they don't." Tony said, tightening his grip on Peter's shoulder, which Peter didn't flinch at; good. Tony decided he would try and fix this. He wasn't sure why, but it was important to peter, so it was important to him.


	46. Chapter 46 - Memorial

**Chapter 46**

 **Memorial**

"Barton!" Tony called out, as he walked into the gym.

"He was just…gardening? Pulling out weeds, trying to water the plants. It was so we- yeah?" Clint ended his conversation with Steve and turned to look at Tony, who was frowning.

"Who are you talking about?" Tony asked.

"Umm…Peter."

"Was this at the cemetery yesterday?"

"…Yeah, I considered going over and helping but…I don't know if he wanted me to see what he was doing, so I pretended I didn't." Clint said. "It seemed like a private thing."

"What's the name of the lady who got the SHIELD woman sick?"

"Um. What?" Clint asked, taken aback by the question. Tony just stared at him. "Crow, is what we called her. Her actual name was Keira Crow. Why?"

"I'm organizing a memorial."

"…Why?"

"…Long story. This afternoon, four o'clock. The whole team is going, whether they know it or not yet; you will _not_ be nasty about this." Tony warned before leaving the room, leaving a confused Clint and Steve behind him.

The car pulled up the cemetery that Peter knew well, and Peter climbed out after Tony, closing the door behind him so Happy could drive away. Tony lead Peter through the other burial plots to a new spot, at the back of the cemetery, in a corner on it's own. There was a small wooden planter box against the fence now, which looked new; it was full of different coloured snapdragons.

"What's all this?" Peter asked, once they stopped at the spot. It wasn't a burial plot, but there was a neat, white burial marker placed in the dirt.

 _Keira Crow_

' _Never a good sign, he thought, when the crows showed up'_

 _Remembered for her work, pushing medical science_

The rest of the team were off to the side, standing; each of them wore all black, neat and tidy.

"Barton said she was a scientist." Tony said, as Peter crouched down to read the burial marker. "An epidemiologist."

"She was working on alternative treatment for the harsher types of cancer, that had low survival rates." Clint said, joining them at the site; the others moved over quietly, following Clint. "She was brilliant at what she did. We never found out why her work ended but it's a shame it did. The chances of human trials were slim but…god she worked hard."

"What…was she trying to do?" Peter asked, still crouched.

"I looked her up." Bruce said. "She wanted to create some kind of vessel that could be planted close to the cancerous site, to administer the medication continuously, without having to cut infected cells out via surgery; it was meant to be used for young children, who wouldn't survive the surgeries. If it could work to treat cancers, it could potentially be used to treat…dozens of other illnesses."

"We originally called her Lab Rat, because she was known for having quite a few rats as pets in her labs, and in the end we settled on Crow. A simple name, for a very smart person." Natasha said.

"She doesn't deserve how she died, so, we want to remember her properly." Clint said, and the others nodded, and pulled bits of paper out of their pockets, Tony had two, and handed one to Peter.

"There is a crow, who feeds the wasps, they don't eat much, it is no loss and when they're full, before they go, they come and tell it 'zzzZank-you, crow.' " Clint read out.

"There was a cat, who chased the crow, the cat would pounce, the crow would go, with beak held high, legs hanging down, 'are you a cat, or are you clown?' " Natasha read out.

"No clown am I, replied the cat, you're lucky that I am so fat , and that I mean you no real harm, I only chase you, to alarm" Tony read out from his piece of paper.

"At this idea, the crow first scoffed, then tried it out, and chased his wasps, who much enjoyed this game, you know, and buzzed off, giggling, 'zzzZank-you, crow!' " Peter read out from his piece of paper, which he had crumpled in his hands without realizing. He didn't notice Clint pulling a few weeds out of a nearby flower bed, as Natasha poured her bottle of water on a particular thirsty looking rose plant. The team left Tony and Peter, and headed back to the tower in silence. Tony and peter stood together in their own silence, staring at the memorial place; a peaceful silence. It was peaceful but god it was heavy and Peter knew he would sleep well when he went to bed that night; emotionally draining days always gave him the better sleeps.

"You didn't even know her." Peter said, breaking the silence.

"Either did you and you still thought she deserved something. Maybe Clint and Natasha don't agree, they're the only ones who really know anything about Keira Crow but…they seemed to understand that you needed this. I…read your list but I feel like today isn't the day for meeting Ben." Tony said gently, laying an arm over Peter's shoulder and holding the boy against his side. Peter gave a weak nod, and headed back to the tower with Tony, so he could lay in bed and read over school work, with some peace and quiet that wasn't so heavy. He ended up finishing most of his schoolwork before falling asleep, and was able to use some spare time the next morning to go over some chemistry notes before school. Nobody mentioned the memorial, or how they each went to visit every other day, to check the snapdragons and pull out weeds; Steve, Bucky and Clint mostly did weeding, while Natasha and Bruce would water the plants on the days they visited.

Peter and Tony watched a movie together that weekend, and Tony fell asleep before it ended; Peter ended up flicking through the channels and found a documentary about crows. He decided to pull his blanket closer and watch it, munching on popcorn every now and then.

"This small black bird is often forgotten about; many only think about it's larger name sake, forgetting that this small native bird is also there, living mostly in more rural desert like areas. The 'little crow', otherwise known as _corvus bennetti,_ is native to Australia…"

Peter was stuck on the words, and he stayed like that, through the weekend and through Monday. Clint found Peter rewatching the documentary Monday night in the lounge.

"She used to be a researcher, on cancer studies." Peter said, not looking at Clint. " I asked her today in class, what she used to do. She said she was a researcher but got diagnosed with some kind of cancer…really rare tumors, with a maximum of two-year life expectancy. She said it was a little over a year ago she found out…"

"Who did?"

"My biology teacher. Ms. Benetti. _Corvus Bennetti_ is the scientific name for the 'little crow', a native Australian crow."

"Kid-"

"I sound crazy. I _feel_ crazy. It just…something feels off. I keep having headaches in biology, figured it was perfume or…candles…or something."

"What do you think it is now?"

"I _think_ my spidey senses know something isn't right but…they don't know what."

"She can't be alive Peter. What she got diagnosed with…it was years ago, she _can't_ be alive…but…if you get a photo of her, we'll see if Tony can do some kind of facial recognition magic."

Friday night, Peter gave Tony a USB stick with six photos of is biology teacher on it; Tony didn't ask, Clint must've mentioned it to him. He simply gave the photos to Friday and let the scan continue over night.

"Boss, I have results for you." Friday said during breakfast Saturday morning; Tony jumped in his seat, choking on his coffee.

"Lounge TV, please Friday." He choked out and spun to face the screen, which was showing the scan results.

"While her facial structure does show minor differences, facial recognition and the facial growth program show that this image likely matches that of Keira Crow, as seen in old SHIELD images."

"She can't be alive!" Clint shouted, standing up and staring at the TV and the face that looked at him; Keira, with her blonde hair pulled back in a tight bun. Her eyes sat behind dark glasses, and the glasses looked painfully familiar. It had been so long since he had thought about them, he hadn't noticed them when he saw them recently.

"I have been monitoring SHIELD communications and it seems that a pair of level two agents have also suspected this. They intend to move to approach her; the emails stated 'end the problem'."

"No!" Peter shouted form the doorway where he had been standing, without the others seeing him. "She-"

"Sir, a call from Fury." Friday said, then answered the call.

"Barton, Romanoff. We've been following the emails of two agents, rookies, and have discovered they've been tracking a woman they believe to be Crow; since they seem to be rather simple, they've forgotten to turn off the locations in their weapons. Sending information to you now. If this woman somehow _is_ Crow, that can be dealt with later. It is pretty fucking likely that it's not her, and we run the risk of two rookie agents killing a citizen. Fix this."

The call ended, and everyone moved. It didn't take long for them to follow Clint's phone, to find the two agents who were waiting on a rooftop, looking at an apartment building across the road. It was a rundown building, with numerous broken windows; perfect to fire through. Another broken window wouldn't be noticed. The dead woman's body likely would be though. Peter swung onto the rooftop, and sprinted into the building, hoping to find her. He pulled his suit off, and changed into the spare clothes he had carried with him; he had no idea what she knew of Peter and Spiderman. She may not trust any of the heroes.

"Peter?" She asked, surprised, when he came out onto her floor, as she was locking her apartment door. "What are you doing here?"

"We-we need to go, now." He said, breathing hard.

"What's wrong Peter?"

"Barton, what's going on?" Fury asked over Clint's communicator, unaware the others could hear as well.

"She's a teacher at a local high school; she happens to be one of the teachers Stark's intern has. The intern's here, a few other kids just left, study session." Clint answered easily.

"Do not let that kid get killed in this."

"Wasn't planning on it- what the hell was that? Director, patch me through to the idiots comms!" Clint shouted, and a sudden buzz in his pocket told him that Fury had done just that. "Agents, explain the shot I just saw."

"Who the hell is this?" A male voice came.

"Clint Barton, Hawkeye, SHIELD agent level nine." Clint answered, and listened to the silence that followed.

"Son of a bitch, someone fired again!" Tony came over the comms.

Peter jumped back as the bullet went through the air between them, lodging into the wall.

"Miss- we need to go, now! Please!"

"I was done with them." She said, staring at Peter.

"W-with…who?"

"Those SHIELD bastards. They knew what she did, what she had done. It was pardoned of course, because of her important cock of a husband. She killed them."

"W-who?" Peter asked, ducking as another bullet came through the air.

"Can they hear you?"

Peter nodded slowly, he wasn't sure why he was telling her.

"Just…the team."

"I want to talk to them."

Peter frowned, but fumbled in his pocket; he never needed props communicators when he was wearing his suit, but he always carried a second one when he was using ear pieces; he was always worried it would fall out. He passed the ear piece to her, and watched as she applied it.

"Crow?" Clint asked, a little stunned. "Who did they kill?"

"My rats!" She shouted, as Peter darted forward, pushing her to the floor as a bullet came through the window; it caught her shoulder as she fell.

"No! No no no…" Peter mumbled, frantic at the sudden blood.

"Your rats?" Clint asked.

"My…they killed them. Poisoned them; and had them mutilated. Cut to bits, crushed, just left in their tanks for me to…f-find…I found them…on my own…" She said, breathing heavily as he eyes drooped. "She deserved…all of it. I warned SHIELD, I told them to leave me alone…"

"They knew what you did, Crow."

"I know…I told them…I admitted to all of it. The husband…had it pardoned…so I wouldn't tell them that he was being a dirty little man…touching whatever woman…would…let him…he could…get them fired…" She sucked in a shaky breath, and looked at Peter with hard eyes.

"Miss we…I'll get you out." Peter said, holding her tight, helping her towards the dodgy elevator at the end of her floor. The doors opened, and he stepped inside, as she suddenly wrenched away, throwing him forwards, as the doors shut. She smashed the emergency button beside the elevator door, locking it, and collapsed to her knees outside the now locked elevator.

"I…loved…those rats…they all had names…I had no family…just those stupid rats…I loved them." She said, sitting on the ground, leaning back against the elevators door; Peter was banging against them desperately, trying to get them to pull apart.

"You-" Clint was cut off when a window on the woman's floor suddenly exploded.

"I told them...they'd never get a kill shot…" She said, smiling to herself. "You lot…always liked a challenge…"

"Stark is on his way-"

"I got…a trial…human trial…"

"Who?"

"Me. Lots of people willing…to cut me open for money…it _works._ I did it…I would've got better…" She was going quiet, losing focus on what she was saying. She tried to focus on the window at the very end of the hallway, which looked out at another building. "The…kid…Peter…he's so good…he doesn't deserve it…"

"Deserve what?"

"To get _sick."_

"How would he?" Clint was running now, to where he knew the agents were; he was heading for one, and Natasha took Steve to find the other, following her phone for directions.

"It's…inside me." She said, hoarse, everything was hurting; when had she been shot in the leg? "Glass vessels…didn't you…read my papers?"

Clint's head snapped up, watching as Tony rushed towards the building in his suit; he had to get in the way of the bullet.

"Kill shot…you…you know, where they aim." Clint said, finding the agent who had spoken over the comms earlier, and kicking the man in the chest, and taking the man's radio. "This is Hawkeye, level nine, do not shoot! Repeat, SHE IS DNS." He shouted the last part.

"Don't let them near me…" Came over his comms. "Burn me…kill it…such a good kid…"

A window shattered at the end of the hall; Peter heard the shattering, and heard something strike the metal door; something else broke. Something small, made of glass, shattered apart. Barely loud enough to hear.

"Crow?" Clint asked over the comms, and got nothing back. "Keira Crow, answer!"

"Hawkeye?" Natasha's voice came over the radio.

"No one goes near her. SHIELD medics only, full body suit. Somebody get the kid out of that _fucking building!"_ Clint shouted, grabbing the agent he had found by the collar, and dragging them behind him. Tony found the window at the end of the hallway, and looked through; the elevator doors had been wrenched open, and Peter was on the floor, holding the woman's body, desperately trying to stop the bleeding around her chest wound.

"Tony, where are you?" Steve asked, seeing the suit hovering at the window.

"I want Steve in the medical team. Full gear." Tony said, voice empty and flat.

"Why?" Steve asked.

"Because nobody else will be able to drag this kid away from that woman's body. No SHIELD until Peter is back at the tower."

As it turned out, anyone could have moved Peter; he was silent as Steve helped him up to his feet, out to a car that would later be torched, and straight to the tower medical bay. He didn't fight, he didn't speak.

Tony went with Clint; both of them suited up, and moved the body themselves. They refused to let anyone from SHIELD touch her in the end. Clint confirmed that she would have to be cremated, so it was done, while they waited in the room. Neither of them trusted SHIELD with this. Bucky went with them to the cemetery, and dug the hole while Tony held a torch, and Clint held the little black box of ashes. He placed it into the hole gently, and let Bucky shovel the dirt back over top; a little snapdragon seedling was placed in the hole before it was refilled totally, and watered well before they left to go to SHIELD headquarters.

The two agents responsible were waiting in one of the briefing rooms when they arrived. Tony crossed the room in a few steps, and immediately punched the one he knew to be the shooter in the face, then stalked back to stand beside Clint.

"What the hell?!" The man shouted, placing his fingers against his busted lip. "We were doing our jobs!"

"The young man who was with Miss Crow, is Mister Stark's intern. He is also the young man responsible for keeping Mister Stark alive, during the previous bombings." Agent Coulson said from where he was sitting at the large conference table. "Which is not what we are here to discuss. I just thought you should be aware."

"What are we here to discuss, then?" Tony asked; he wanted to go see Peter.

"That two SHIELD agents ignored a direct do not shoot order from a superior agent." Phil said, looking at Clint.

"We were-"

"You disobeyed a direct order from a superior agent, while you were aiming to shoot someone you had no direct proof about. You have gone against so many policies and rules. You get to resit academy." Phil said, and Clint laughed. "You get to resit the academy, as fresh recruits."

Clint blinked at Phil, who was staring at the two agents, who now looked sick. Clint felt giddy.

"Oh! Before I forget, Phil, do you know what Steve's clearance level is?" Clint asked suddenly, looking at Phil.

"Same as you, Agent Barton." Phil said, staring at Clint; Phil had a good idea why Clint was asking about Captain Rogers. Clint frowned at Phil's answers. "However…he can choose to enact the Peggy Policy, if he so chooses."

"…The what?" Tony asked, then stumbled as Clint knocked into him, running from the conference room. "Barton!?"

"Find Rogers!" Clint called back, disappearing out into the hallway; Tony followed, and they both searched for Steve. Tony found him with Bruce, having coffee in the SHIELD staff room.

"Rogers!" Tony shouted, stopping in the doorway. "Barton wants you! I have no idea why but something about a Peggy Policy?" Tony said, without breath; Steve's hand clench shut, and his coffee cup burst into pieces.

"What does he want?" Steve asked, apparently not noticing his cup had broken.

"He didn't say, he just ran out of a room and yelled at me to find you."

"Go on Steve, I'll tidy up." Bruce said, as Steve got up from his seat slowly, and went with Tony; they found Clint in the SHIELD foyer, with Steve's shield.

"What do you need, Clint?" Steve asked, looking confused as Clint passed his shield to him.

"I need you to break something." Clint said, gesturing to the wall behind the main reception desk. It was covered in metal nameplates. "Only high level agents can remove a name. Fury, Coulson and…"

"Peggy?" Steve asked.

"Well, yes…" Clint said, and Tony could've sworn that Clint was blushing. "I just…they don't deserve the nameplates."

"What names?" Steve asked, walking over to the wall.

"Amy Hart, and Robert Hart." Clint said tapping on the two nameplates, side by side.

"Clint, the disease…do you think the kid got it?" Steve asked, staring at the two nameplates.

"I really hope not Steve, it's…I hope not." Clint said, remembering the time he'd spent as protection for Amy Hart; a miserable time, with a miserable person. She had declined quickly but it had actually taken some time for her to actually die; the disease got her to barely functioning, then seemed to stop progressing. He hoped Peter wouldn't suffer through that.

"What _are_ you three doing?!" Fury shouted from across the room; he had heard about Steve breaking the coffee cup. "Barton!"

"Sir." Steve said. "I'm enacting the Peggy Policy."

Steve raised his shield and brought it down onto Robert's name plate, then repeated it to bring the shield down onto Amy Hart's name plate; both metal plates crumbled and twisted, then fell off the wall and clattered along the ground.

"Rogers, stand down!" A high level agent that Clint sort of knew shouted; level eight. Who cared?

"Sir?" Steve asked, turning to face Fury, who simply nodded.

"She would be proud, for it to be used for this." Fury said, then turned and left the foyer. Steve wondered if the man was right, so he left the building and made the trip to Peggy's grave; he told her about what had happened. He felt like she would be proud, after all. Maybe not of him, but definitely proud of Peter.

 _I like writing about other SHIELD people of interest! It's fun! One more chapter of kind of angst, then some fun stuff! I found the poem for Crow's memorial online, and have lost the website name; will edit it in when I find it again._


	47. Chapter 47 - Running Into Old Friends

**Chapter 47**

 **Running Into Old Friends**

"It looks…nicer." Peter said, as he stood beside Tony in the cemetery.

"What do you mean? It's a cemetery." Tony said, raising an eyebrow.

"It just looks…nicer." Peter said, giving a definitive nod.

"I'll take your word for it." Tony said, smirking down at Peter, then followed after the boy as he lead the way to Ben. Peter found the grave, and laid the picnic blanket he had brought down next to it, putting the bag of food down as well. Tony put down the bottle of lemonade and plastic wine glasses, then sat down on the picnic with Peter.

" _Heya kid, where you off to?" Tony asked, a few hours earlier, seeing Peter with a picnic blanket and a paper bag in is hand._

" _Oh um… just going out for a bit…" peter didn't want to explain it; it was embarrassing. He was worried Tony would make a comment, or that the others would find out._

" _You got a date?" Tony asked, smirking at Peter. "You could've asked. I would've helped organize something if you wanted."_

" _No it's…um, a standing date. Kind of." Peter was looking at the grip, taking a step back; Tony reached out and grabbed Peter's arm._

" _Kid, what's wrong?" Tony asked, gently._

" _I was going to go see Ben. Me and May always…go have a picnic, and have lunch with him…but…" Peter didn't finish, Tony knew that May was away for work._

" _Give me a minute." Tony said, and had disappeared into the elevator, to come out a few minutes later changed out of his meeting suit, into a loose shirt and jeans. They'd stopped on the way to get something to drink, which is where Tony saw the cheap packet of plastic wine glasses and decided they were perfect. They also stopped to get another sandwich, for Tony._

They sat in silence as they ate; Tony poured them a glass of lemonade each, and stuck a tiny umbrella into each one. Peter hadn't seen the tiny umbrellas Tony had also bought at the store.

"Did you know Ben was here, when you chose to put Keira here as well?" Peter asked.

"I was given very strict instructions from May, that during any crisis, this cemetery remains unscathed. Your Aunt is terrifying, so I took it very seriously."

"Sounds like her." Peter said, taking a sip of the lemonade. "He always liked you."

"What? I never met him." Tony was _very_ confused.

"He watched the news and read newspapers a lot…May always said he rooted for you, whenever you were in the spotlight. He was…he saw the good in people, I guess."

"Must've had a telescope." Tony muttered.

"Mister Stark! You can't say that." Peter said, looking shocked. "He'll hear you. You don't make a fool out of Uncle Ben."

Tony laughed at the comment, and how completely serious Peter sounded when he said it.

"He'll haunt you." Peter warned, starting to grin.

"Kid, if he was gonna haunt me it would've started the moment I took your suit. Ben would've put me down." Tony said, pouring a little of his lemonade onto the grass.

"He used to collect Captain America stuff. None of the toys or anything but…war stuff, I guess. He said it was important to remember." Peter said, laying down over the blanket, staring up at the sky. Tony laid down as well, closing his eyes and just enjoying how warm the sun was. He woke up a little while later, on his own; Peter had wandered off.

Tony saw Peter across the cemetery, pulling weeds out of a little corner of the garden; it was a corner nobody would ever really see as it was hidden behind a tree. Still, Tony got up and crouched down beside Peter and began to pull out weeds. They worked in silence, until Peter was content with how the garden looked. They packed up their belongings, and headed back home.

"Thanks, Mister Stark." Peter said as they walked.

"Don't worry about it, kid." Tony replied, stopping himself from scooping Peter into a hug. He settled for smiling to himself; the cemetery really did look nicer. They arrived back to the tower, to find the lounge _full_ of pot plants; every single pot was holding a mint plant.

"So much mint and not a mojito in sight, a true tragedy." Tony said, staring at all the greenery. There were even pots on top of the fridge.

"What…is…going on?" Peter asked, staring at the room as well.

"Tony, I have a question for you." Scott Lang said, from the kitchen.

"Umm…sure." Tony said, unsure what really to say.

"Two, I guess. One, where do you keep your instant coffee. Two, why is your house full of mint plants?"

"Uhh…Peter can you help find…I don't think I even _own_ instant coffee. I'm going to…try and ignore what is currently happening." Tony said, very lost; Peter laughed and went to help Scott make a coffee.

"Rogers!" Tony shouted, walking to the gym. "Barton! Barnes!"

"Stark!" Steve called back, stepping out of the gym, smiling at Tony. "What did you need?"

"Why is my lounge full of mint?"

"Mojitos?" Steve offered. "That's all I know about mint. What do you mean by full?"

"I mean there's at least thirty potted mint plants in my lounge!"

"…Oh…kay…"

"Explain."

"I don't know wha- oh." Steve's eyes went wide.

"…Rogers?"

"We went to the market, Natasha wanted to go. Bucky was…very amused by some old woman telling him all sorts of 'old wives' tales. Something about planting certain herbs could get rid certain things, or attract them."

"And what is mint meant to do?"

"I don't know! I was helping Natasha!"

"Barnes!" Tony groaned, and turned; he found Bucky in the library, reading a book.

"What?" Barnes asked, when Tony ripped the out of his hands.

"Why. Is. My. House. Full. Of. MINT?!"

"Oh. Did it work?"

"Did what work?!"

"Apparently spiders like mint, I thought maybe it'd help the kid calm down about school and…everything."

"You're reaching, Barnes."

"It's sort of true? It was hard getting them all inside without Rogers seeing me."

"You only call him Rogers when you're Winter, or when you're up to no good. Stop pretending to be Barnes." Tony accused, groaning at…everything.

"How is the kid doing?" Bucky asked.

"Huh?"

"Stark, he was holding that woman. I do not know why he…was so determined, for Crow to be remembered but…he cared, so her dying would have been difficult for him. He is a brat, but your team does worry about him, as do we."

"We being…?"

"Me and Winter." Bucky said, shrugging. The slip back into his actual voice was instant, and smooth. "It's frightening how people seem to just…like the kid. Is it a superpower?"

"That is…super creepy. Also, we might never know. He's gonna save the world by just really politely asking the bad guys to stop. They'll all apologize and we'll all go out for pizza together." Tony said, smirking to himself. "He's a good kid, even after being around me so much. I don't know…it's been a few weeks now, I was hoping he'd mention Crow on his own, when he's ready. I hated when people tried to get me to talk, I don't wanna do it to him."

"It'll happen. Might be months, might be years but it'll happen. Just…Stark, it might not be you, that he spills everything to."

"What do you mean?"

"It might be something little, that brings it all back and he'll just…break. Maybe it'll be Natasha who finds him, or Clint, or Steve, or me, the poor kid but just...don't be mad, if it happens."

"Who found you?" Tony asked; it sounded like something Bucky understood well.

"Hasn't happened yet." Bucky said, taking his book back and settling into the couch again. "I'm not tryna tell you how to treat the kid, just tryna help."

Tony turned and left the room, pausing for a moment at the doorway when Bucky spoke again, "Ask Banner about safe spaces." Tony thought over the words as he walked to find Bruce.

 _Safe space. Safe space. Safe space._

"Am I a safe space?" Tony asked Bruce, finding the man hunched over a worktable in his lab.

"Hello to you too, please take a seat My office is usually closed at this time but I can make an exception for return customers." Bruce said with a smile as he stood back and stretched his arms out, before sitting on his lab stool. "Can we start from whatever brought that question on?"

"I was talking to…Barnes about Peter and he was telling me that…telling me not to get mad, if Peter ends up having a breakdown over everything and it isn't with me."

"And…is it something that's upsetting you?"

"What if Peter doesn't think he can? I…I don't think I'd be able to stop myself being a little…pissed off if it was someone else who helped him through the breakdown, I'd never voice it though. How the fuck would that help? I just…how do I know if Peter thinks I'm safe?"

"Tony, I'm not really sure how to help you with this. Everyone's going to go through trauma differently. Maybe you could do some reading on how to help people who are grieving?" Bruce suggested. "Maybe try spending more one on one time with him, doing…non avengery hero stuff. Go mini golfing or something, I don't know. What do teenagers do? Besides growing mint, apparently."

"Yeah…thanks Brucie. I'll go and…see what I can find. Also, the mint was totally on Barnes…or Winter, I don't know." Tony said, leaving the lab, and heading to the penthouse, where he found Peter laying over the couch.

"Again, I have absolutely no idea how you can take up _so much room_ " Tony teased, smiling at Peter.

"Imagine if I had eight legs, be no couch left at all."

"Because I would've burnt it, and you."

"Course not, I would've crawled away on my eight legs and escaped."

"Please, stop." Tony laughed, plonking himself down and shoving Peter's legs aside to make room for himself. "I was thinking, we could go out and do something, if you felt like it."

"Oh, what did the others wanna do?"

"I was thinking…just us two, if you wanted. Be good to do something that's just…normal, for a bit." Tony definitely noticed how Peter's face picked up at the suggestion; _good._

"What were you thinking?"

"We could go out…or we could just hide out in here, get pizza and ice cream sandwiches. Maybe get a movie marathon going?"

"Yeah! Let's do that, we haven't done a movie night in ages."

"Alright, you get the movies set up, I'll go arrange food. I think Bucky was doing some baking earlier today, I'll try and steal us a few tasty things."

Peter gave a laugh as Tony headed down to the kitchen. Drats; no tasty things to be found. He had Friday add a dessert pizza to their usual order, and grabbed some bottles of soft drink from the fridge before heading upstairs. They also had no ice cream sandwiches; double drats. Tony scrapped the soft drink and worked to make them a mocktail each; he finished just as the pizza arrived. They set everything out on the coffee table, and the movie began to play.

"Psst, kid. Why are we watching an old western?" Tony whispered, leaning over to Peter.

"It…Ben watched it a lot, May said it was his favourite."

"Sounds good then." Tony said, and the two settled in to watch the movie. It wasn't a terrible movie but it wasn't particularly amazing either. I ended and they ended up watching some horror movie about people in a haunted house. Typical story; try and spend the night, uh oh, spooky stuff happens. The end.

"Pfft." Tony said once the movie was over. "I could do that."

"Do what?" Peter asked, mumbling from where he had cocooned himself in a blanket on the couch.

"Survive a haunted house." Tony said, as if it was obvious. "They're just so stupid, it would be easy!"

"Well…go do it then?"

"How?"

"…You know who are you, right? Surely there's some way you could arrange for a haunted house sleepover."

"…That…is such a good idea." Tony said, eyes wide.

"…Well…have fun, I guess?"

"What!? You have to come!"

"I have school!"

"A Saturday then!"

"Mister Sta- fine, _but_ you have to stop getting Bruce to check on me."

"But-"

"You heard him. The disease has already been through my system, I got a little cough and that's all. I can't get infected by it."

"…One last check up, then that's it."

"Deal."

Tony let out a pleased sigh of relief, and they settled into another movie, which they fell asleep during. Tony was woken up by the Avengers alarm blaring; Peter had already left for school. Tony wasn't sure if the kid had a full day of classes or not, he'd have to find out. Peter had to help him find a spooky mansion to sleep in. Did he want a mansion, or an old farmhouse? Brick building or wooden? Normal ghosts or ghost dogs? So many options.

"Tony?!" Steve shouted from the quinjet as Tony raced on board; he had his brief case in hand, ready to roll. "Oh good! I didn't know if you were here or not."

"What's happened?" Tony asked, slamming the briefcase open and letting the suit connect around his body.

"Doombots have attacked an office building; there's a group of executives there apparently, huge technology conference."

"Oh shit. That's today? Guess Pepper can't technically be mad I didn't go…technically."

"Do you know the building?"

"A little, I've been to the top floor a few times for their boring conferences, only to prove them wrong that I wouldn't turn up."

Steve piloted the jet towards the building, then let Friday take over navigation when they were nearby enough that they began to get ready.

"Captain Rogers, a call for you." Friday announced, and let the call connect.

"Rogers speaking." Steve said, as the rest of the team finished suiting up in the back of the jet. Clint was helping Natasha adjust something on her suit.

"Oh thank god! W-we think…the robots have started to leave…one of the guests had a heart attack…and they…they started leaving…" A woman was saying, voice shaking. "We have medical coming…they…he's already passed I think but…they said they'd come anyway."

The call system beeped, saying they had another call ready to connect. They were close to the building and as the lady said, the little robots were flying away into the horizon, apparently content with their target being dead.

"Alright ma'am, let them check everyone over, just in case. We've got another call, I think it's a team member with a trace on the robot's heading, we'll head after them." Steve said, as something red suddenly appeared, sticking to the front window of the jet, waving at Tony.

"Must've had exam block." Tony said, and pressed the button for the ramp to open, letting peter climb in, before the ramp began to close again. "Exam block kiddo?"

"Yeah! Only had one this morning, easy peasy. Got study for rest of today." Peter said, giving a thumbs up. The call ended, and there was a pause before the new one connected.

"Bird boy!" A female voice came over the speakers. "Can I take a wild guess that the pretty plane nearby is yours?"

"Uhh…"

"An answer, feather brain!" The voice shouted; there was an explosion in the audio, as well as outside the plane, in the building. "You're usually not so – owch!- fucking slow!"

"Umm, well it's Stark's. I guess it's the teams?"

"Okay well, could you open a door for me?!"

"Excuse me?"

"An ANSWER PLEASE." The woman's voice went up when there was another explosion; a large area of wall on the exterior of the building fell away, creating a large hole.

"Yes!" Peter shouted without thinking, he knew the voice, though he was surprised he recognized it so easily.

"Tony?" Steve asked; Tony nodded. "Open the ramp Friday, get us in position for an easy catch."

"Yes Captain." Friday said, as the quinjet slowly moved itself to a new positon, facing the opening ramp towards the broken area of wall. Peter moved to the pilot's quarters to change out of his suit; he hadn't meant to use Peter's voice, oops. He came back out as someone reached the hole in the wall and leapt from the building. Bucky darted forwards, as Steve moved; the woman's barely reached the ramp, her fingertips brushed the metal of the ramp, as three robots followed her from the hole in the building. Steve threw his shield in an arc, damaging the three robots enough that they fell, landing in an empty area of grass next to the building. Bucky had managed to grabbed the woman's wrist with his metal arm.

Tony and Bucky both helped the woman up onto the ramp and let go once she was up on the flat ground, inside the plane. There was a pooled patch of blood on her white singlet, and a scrape over her right shoulder; otherwise, she was just out of breath and a little wobbly on her feet.

"Nice catch boys." She said, sitting on the ground, leaning back against a seat. "Good to see you all, nice to meet you Doctor."

"Uhh…nice to meet you…?"

"Also, Doctor." She said, grinning. Bruce stepped back, eyes wide, looking from Tony to the woman.

"Oh for fuck's sake." Tony said, groaning, letting his helmet fold down to expose his face. "You again?"

"You're welcome, no need to thank me, really." She said, moving to get up, but was stopped by Steve pushing down on her uninured shoulder firmly. "Watch it soldier boy."

"You're injured. We'll patch you up and drop you off somewhere out of SHIELD view." Steve said, nodding at Bruce. "Least we can do."

"Rogers, I warned you!" Clint shouted from the front of the jet. "I sai-"

"You said not to use the f word, which I didn't, thank you, _Barton._ " Steve said, smirking at Clint who rolled his eyes and turned away.

"Did you need anything Bruce?" Tony asked.

"No, I have a kit up here, won't take a moment." Bruce said, shrugging his shoulders and moving away to get the first aid box. He sat down next to the woman and began to work on her injuries, as she kept her eyes on Tony.

"What?" Tony asked, noticing how she was staring at him.

"When I said no need to thank me, I was joking. I like being thanked. I'm a sucker for appreciation. Aren't I Barton?" Clint ignored the question.

"…Why would I…" Tony glanced at Peter, then at Steve. "Why would I thank _you_?"

"Because, a little spider came and asked me for help, and I gave it. Nasty stuff, HYDRA poison, isn't it? I made it nice, and because I'm _so good_ at being nice, I didn't take up spider boy's offer of owing me a favor."

"Excuse me?" Tony asked, eyes snapping back to the woman. "What did you say?"

"Little spiderling offered me a favor, if I stopped…whatever you got dunked in." She said, shrugging, much to Bruce's dismay as he saw a wound on her shoulder move and bleed again.

"You've been shot." Bruce said, glaring at the wound. "Hmm, actually it looks more like a shrapnel wound, which makes sense given the explosions."

"He…why the ever loving _fuck_ would he offer that?" Tony asked, mostly talking to himself.

"Search me Stark, he's your pet, go ask him." She said, standing up slowly as the jet lowered towards the ground. "Awfully nice of you lot to help a gal out."

"Wasn't really _us_ was it, Peter?" Tony asked, glaring at Peter, who looked sheepishly at the group.

"Err, yeah sorry I kinda…oops?" Peter didn't like how they were looking at him. "So…does that mean I get a favor now?" He joked, and saw Clint mouth something, apparently he'd said the wrong thing. The jet was silent, beside the gentle hum of the plane itself.

"You know what? Why not." She said, throwing a small item to Peter, who caught it. It was a small black stick, with a red button on one end, and a small flashing light on one end; it was green. "It's call a beacon. If you're in a situation you can't get out of, and this lot can't get you out, press the button. It puts a call out and whoever is closest, will come help you out."

"…So it's an assassin call button?" Tony asked, a little shocked that something like that even existed.

"Pretty much! Toodles!" She said, grinning as she jumped the short distance from the open ramp to the ground. Peter gave a quick wave as the ramp closed, clutching the little beacon tight in his other hand; it felt good to hold.

"So, anyone else wanna come stay at a haunted house?"

 _ **I JUST REALLY LIKE WIRITNG HER, OKAY?!**_


	48. Chapter 48 - Natasha Does Like Horses

**Chapter 48**

 **Natasha Does Like Horses**

"So, were you gonna tell me?" Tony asked Peter, who was sitting in the passenger seat, watching the landscape blur past the car.

"Tell you what?" Peter asked, turning to look at Tony; the man had to laugh at how windswept the kid's hair was, he hadn't noticed that Peter had rolled the window down.

"About what you offered the crazy poison lady?"

"Ooohhh right, do we have to talk about it?"

"I mean, I'd like to. I _was_ involved, even if I wasn't in any condition to be aware of what was happening."

"It…was my idea, to go find her. We just got lucky she said she'd help, you know, until some HYDRA dude rocked up at her hideout."

"Wait, what? How?"

"Dunno, he was outside hiding in some plants and a window exploded, then he was inside."

"Holy shit, you were okay? You were Spidey weren't you, so you could fight? Didn't have to hide from her."

"Didn't need to. She shot him before I had to do anything; she's a good shot, I guess, missed me by an inch."

"Clint keeps saying she doesn't like guns…I keep finding it hard to believe." Tony said, as they pulled into the long driveway, and followed it to the large mansion at the other end, which had been hidden by giant hedges. The other car was already there, and the team had piled out with their bags. Tony parked the car nearby and had barely even stopped moving before Peter piled out of the car and raced for the front door of the large house.

"Peter!" Tony shouted. "Take your own bag!"

Tony was answered by a web shooting out, grabbing both bags that Tony was holding, and pulling them both to Peter as he kicked the large front door open, then easily caught the bags and walked inside.

"Fucking show off." Tony mumbled and followed the others inside. Clint nodded in agreement. Bucky and Steve just smirked.

"So, what, we just hang out here for a night?" Bucky asked, looking around the dingy entrance foyer. The house would have been grand back in the day; now it was dark, with damp smelling air and rotten looking floorboards.

"That's the plan." Tony said, grinning at the others. "There's like, a million bedrooms, so we can all pick one or we can camp in the living room, up to you guys. We've got some snack food and I'm sure we could find a fireplace to get going for that spooky ambience."

They set their bags in the main lounge where there was in fact, a large ornate fireplace. The group separated when everyone decided to wander off and explore the huge house and its grounds. Steve and Bucky ended up outside, walking through an old training field; Bucky guessed it was for horses, since there were old jumps left behind, sitting in the overgrown grass.

"If we find a dead horse, I'm going home." Steve said, hands on hips.

"Don't be stupid, we're not gonna find a dead horse. We'll find its ghost." Bucky said, bursting into laughter when Steve turned and stomped away.

Clint ended up finding one of the bedrooms; the yellowing wallpaper felt a little familiar, as did the wooden toy chest in the corner, and the slowly spinning wooden airplane mobile hanging from the ceiling. It all felt too much like his own childhood. He pulled the door shut again, and turned away down the hall, so he could ignore the room, as he had done for some time now. He ran into into Bruce on the stairs; the man looked startled, and rushed past Clint, disappearing upstairs.

"Peter-" Tony said, down in the lounge, loudly.

"Don't touch me!" Peter replied, darting out of the lounge, and disappearing out through the front doors.

"Tony?" Clint asked, coming into the lounge to find Tony staring at a fireplace, soot all over the ground around him. "You alright?"

"Ummm, yeah, I think so. Where'd the kid go?"

"Outside."

"Right. Let's just…leave him for a bit…"

Peter ran from the house, desperate to get the soot off of his body. He came to a stop near a small pond; it was man made, out of what were white tiles, now covered in moss and dirt. Peter stared at the water for a moment, and knelt down at the edge of the pond. He used a hand to scoop water out, ignoring the smell, as he washed the soot from his arms and hands. He debated using it on his face; he could taste the soot, feel it against his eyes. He used two hands to scoop up the water, and his body shifted wrong, so that he was falling towards the water; he went to right himself when a hand grabbed his shoulder, holding him safely on the tiled ground, then pulling back gently so he was sitting on the ground.

"You alright?" Steve asked, looking down at Peter. The boy stared at the ground between his legs and didn't respond. Steve frowned; he lowered himself down slowly, so that he was crouching in front of Peter, then sat down on the dirty tiles as well. "Kid, you okay?" Steve asked again, quieter; he realized Peter was shaking.

"I don't…I can't…" Peter was whispering; Steve realized that Peter was crying. _What the heck was he meant to do now?_ He didn't want to frighten Peter anymore, and make him run off or fight Steve off. Bucky had purposefully stayed out in the field after they saw Peter bolt out of the house; seeing Bucky probably wouldn't help with whatever was happening.

"You can't what?" Steve asked.

"I…I can't…do this… _hero thing…_ " Peter finally choked out. The voice that was talking to him was familiar, who was it? He couldn't see past how blurry his eyes had become from the tears that he was trying to stop. "I can't do it…"

 _Come on Tony, where are you?_

"Why can't you?"

"I couldn't…they…I couldn't stop them…"

Peter took a deep breath, trying to steady his breathing, and looked up at Steve properly. Steve saw how peter paused when he saw him, how the kid's eyes went wide. _Please don't run._

"I…what are you doing out here? Where's Mister Barnes…?" Peter asked softly, looking back at the ground.

"I left him behind in the garden. He was picking on me."

"W-what? Why?"

"Something about ghost horses."

Peter gave a little snort, then sniffled again and looked back up at Steve.

"D-do you believe in ghosts?"

"One of our team mates is an actual god and his god brother is some kind of sorcerer. We fight weird monsters all the time, I'm ready to believe in anything, even ghost horses." Steve said, and after a pause, continued. "Actually, Natasha would probably love a ghost horse. Could you do me a favor?"

"Ummm…w-what is it?"

"Move away from the water?" Peter stared at Steve but after a moment, he shuffled away, and leant back against a garden wall nearby, overgrown vines which brushed against his neck and arms as he disturbed them.

"Alright, great, so…what's happened?" Steve asked, watching as Peter played with a leaf he found on the floor.

"W-what do you mean?"

"Why were you about to throw yourself into a pond?"

"I wasn't going to do _that!_ I was…just…washing myself off."

"With old pond water?"

"It was the first thing I found."

"Bucky brought a bunch of bottled water, you can use them if you want. Why are you…covered in…that?"

"It's soot, from a chimney."

"That doesn't answer my question but…sure."

"It was…blocked, I went up it to try and unblock it so we could have a fire tonight…and…" peter took another deep breath before continuing. "We both…kinda forgot, I don't like tight spaces anymore."

"Anymore?"

"A building collapsing on you will do that." Peter mumbled, then froze.

"Umm…what?" Steve asked, staring at Peter. "I didn't drop a building on you…"

"What? I never said you did."

"Wait, was this _outside_ of Berlin?"

"Oh umm, yeah, it was. I was…going after some Vulture guy who was trying to-"

"Steal a plane. That was you?"

"Y-yeah…did Mister Stark not tell you?"

"He never really talked about it. I figured it was company information, or a private thing, didn't want to intrude on anything, so I didn't ask. So, a building fell on you?"

"Yeah…Mister Stark…found out after everything happened, I didn't have the suit he made me...and…everything just kind of fell apart. I was ready to you know…just give up on everything with Spiderman and he just…told me I did a good job."

"Did you forget you don't like tight spaces, or did you ignore it, and go up the chimney anyway?"

"I…maybe I ignored it, a little bit…"

"Tony's not gonna flip out if you can't do something, or even if you just don't want to. You think we do everything he wants?" Steve asked, raising an eyebrow and shrugging. "He would've kicked us out eons ago if he expected that."

"I-I suppose but…what if he doesn't…" Peter stopped, afraid to say the rest; what if he was right? What if Steve laughed, and told him _duh, no shit kiddo?_ Steve moved to sit next to Peter and lean back against the wall, groaning as he did, mumbling about his old man joints.

"What if he doesn't what?" Steve asked, wanting Peter to continue.

"What if he doesn't want me to stay around? I'm not…much of a hero…-"

"Because you're scared of something?"

"I-"

"Who cares?" Steve asked, glancing sideways at Peter. "None of us do."

"But-"

"Bucky won't open the freezer, at the tower, if he can avoid it. He'll come find me or Bruce, to get something out of it for him. I don't like being underwater. Which is a shame, as it seems to come up a lot in this job."

Peter was silent but after a moment, he turned sideways to stare at Steve with narrow eyes.

"You dove into the water to get me out, at that lake." Peter said, voice almost accusatory.

"Would you believe me if I said I forgot I was scared of it?" Steve asked, smirking a little bit. "Do you wanna come get some bottled water?"

Peter nodded and let Steve help him up to his feet, then followed the man back to the cars. Steve pulled a few bottles from the car, which were slightly warmed by the car being in the sun; the almost warm water felt much nicer than the pond water and it did a much better job at washing away all the muck. Water discoloured black by the soot splashed off of Peter's arms as he washed it away, and used another bottle to rinse out his hair and face, ignoring how wet his shirt was becoming.

"Hey kid…" Steve said, unsure if he should ask. "…Does Tony _know_ that you don't like tight spaces?"

Peter was silent for a few moments, as he thought over the question.

"I never…what if he…" Peter dropped the bottle he was holding; he was shaking again. Peter looked up when he felt his neck tingle; he could see Tony on the stairs in front of the house, watching them with a stunned expression on his face.

"Rogers, did you try to drown my intern?" Tony asked; Steve hadn't realized the man was there and spun to face him. "He kind of needs to be alive to do the whole interning thing…apparently. That's what Pepper says anyway. Barton's busy rearranging furniture and since I'm apparently not very strong, you have to go help."

Steve didn't say anything as he headed inside, glancing at Tony as he went past the man, and he headed inside, leaving Tony and Peter alone. Peter tried to follow after Steve but was stopped by Tony putting an arm out, blocking Peter. Peter knew he could just side step the arm and keep going but…it felt so _rude._

"Kid." Tony said, using the arm to grab Peter gently by the shoulders and pulling him closer. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I…I don't know…" Peter said, looking at Tony's shoulder, not wanting to look at the man's face, he knew it'd make him cry.

"Peter, if I knew…I never would've asked you to go up the chimney. You know that, hey? I wouldn't have…kid?" Tony could feel that Peter was shaking; there was a patch of fabric on his shoulder that had become wet. Whether it was from the water in Peter's hair, or something else, he wasn't sure. "Peter?"

"I…I can't…I should've…helped her…" Peter whispered, choking back the sobs he had been hiding from Steve. "H-how…can…y-you…I failed…and…I…I'm no good at…the hero stuff…" Tony held tight to Peter as he lowered himself and the boy to the ground, so that he was sitting on a step, with Peter curled up against him, still shaking as he sobbed into Tony's shirt. He ignored how the wind had picked up, and the heavy raindrops that splashed against his skin; he adjusted himself so he was sort of sheltering Peter from the rain. He could imagine Steve wanting to tell them to get inside, out of the rain; the thought of it made Tony smile, though it was a sad sort of smile. He could hear birds in the distance, hiding from the rain as it picked up; the rain picked up suddenly, catching them both by surprise, when the light rain suddenly became a heavy blanket, that drenched them.

"Alright, let's go inside before we both get swept away." Tony said, easing Peter up to his feet and the two of them headed inside, where it was much warmer; someone had got the fireplace going.

"They aren't for you!" Clint shouted from the lounge, followed by the sound of furniture moving, then something crashing to the ground. "Barnes, I will take that fucking arm right off of you! Share!"

"…Well, we've apparently missed something." Tony said, glancing down at Peter, who looked puzzled.

"They…May made me a huge box of fudge and biscuits, maybe they found them…" Peter was saying, and Tony suddenly left his side, disappearing into the lounge. Peter heard another crash, then Tony shouting, followed by Clint shouting. Peter wandered over to the doorway that lead to the lounge, and watched Tony and Clint wrestling on the ground, the box of treats abandoned to the side, near Steve's foot. He was sitting on the ground, also watching the two men fight. The other members of the team were sitting around the room, lounging, watching the two men fight.

Clint and Tony seemed to come to a silent agreement a few minutes later and the fight ended; everyone was finally able to take what they liked from the box of treats, which they munched on as they chatted, apparently unbothered by the strange house they were in. The fire died down, and everyone moved to go find somewhere to sleep. Peter made a final round of the house with the box of goodies, letting everyone take some before they slept; he found Clint sitting in one of the bedrooms upstairs, sitting on the ground, staring at a wall.

"I haven't…gone back there in such a long time…" Clint said, not looking at Peter. "I don't _want_ to go back there…"

"Go where?" Peter asked and apparently, Clint was expecting someone else. The man spun to stare at Peter, glaring at the boy who was holding box of homemade treats. Clint's eyes were red and he was breathing heavily. Peter held the box out towards Clint without speaking. Clint stared but after a moment, reached out for the box. Peter moved closer, and sat down while Clint rummaged through the box for what he wanted.

"Can I ask a question?" Peter asked, watching Clint.

"Feels like you're gonna, no matter what I say."

"Are there…a lot of people, like Keira, and the weird poison lady?" Clint looked up at Peter, frowning slightly.

"There's…a lot of people, like me and Natasha; assassins. Crow and the Doctor are…a league of their own, there's a few people like that, a few people that you don't cross because they are _very_ good at what they do."

"…So, why doesn't SHIELD…do something about them?" Peter was nervous about the question, which Clint noticed.

"Our issue is…you never know who is in league with who. People like the Doctor, or Clockwork, you don't really have to worry about…it's people like Keira, or The Seamtress that are issues. You never know who will take insult to a partner being taken out, and retaliate."

"Ohh…alright. Why doesn't she work with anyo- wait, Clockwork? Seamstress?"

"…I keep forgetting it's not your world, you know? Keep forgetting you don't know anyone. They're not bad, haven't seem them around for awhile. Not anyone I'd like to piss off but not like Doc."

"Are they dangerous as well?"

"Clockwork is, or was, she's been retired for awhile now. Seamstress is…not really. She's a small little thing, young as well. Problem is, she's semi been adopted by basically everyone else, like you and Tony I guess; not someone to try and hurt unless you want the assassin world coming after you." Clint said, smirking.

"Oh…does that include you guys?"

"You know it. Thanks for the snacks kiddo, I'm gonna go find somewhere to crash." Clint said, patting Peter on the head as he walked past. Peter watched Clint leave but didn't say anything. _What the hell was Clint doing in this room?_

Peter wandered downstairs again and found his sleeping bag set up next to Tony's; he laid down and tried to sleep, but his eyes stung even when closed tight. It wouldn't take much to brings the tears back; he knew that Tony and Steve meant well but…they didn't seem to _get_ why he was upset, not completely. He tried to focus on something else; Ned, MJ…they had a decathlon competition the next week, he'd told Tony and the man had agreed to go before Peter had even invited him.

He fell asleep, thinking of the competition; he'd do extra practice, to make sure he was ready. He could ask his mentor…maybe the man would have ti me to help him go over questions.


	49. Chapter 49 - Fake Ironman

**Chapter 49**

 **Fake Ironman**

Tony might not have technically _had_ time to help Peter study but he _found_ time; he called Pepper, told her to not bother him for a few days, and blocked any incoming calls that weren't world endingly urgent. Of course, he just told Peter that he'd managed to rearrange some meetings, and did in fact have some spare time. He helped Peter make flashcards, and the two of them practiced before and after Peter had school. They had snacks and soft drink while the two of them went over questions; Tony loved it. Tony also loved how Peter seemed to be smiling more readily, wider smiles than he'd had in awhile. Peter was shocked, embarrassed and quietly…pleased, when he saw the whole team sitting in the crowd at the competition, watching as the rounds of questions were asked and answered. The final questions were asked, both answered by MJ; they'd done it. They won.

The team jumped up, cheering louder than the rest of the crowd as the winning group stood up from their seats to take their prizes, before leaving the stage. A familiar smile was waiting for Peter in the crowd; May.

"…May?" Peter asked, shocked to see the woman smiling at him. "You-"

"Sneaky day off, worth it." She said, wrapping her arms around her nephew and squeezing him. She let go, and gave a hug to MJ as well, and Ned – who had come to watch the Steve and Bucky argue in the background- and gave her congratulations to the rest of the team. Peter saw Tony, then Steve then everyone else, as they made their way over to the team to say congratulations. Peter raised his hand to wave, when his neck began to tingle; just a little too late. The sudden warning didn't do much, as it was so unexpected, as was the sudden sharp sting in the side of his neck. He blinked, and tried to speak but his mouth was suddenly too dry; he swayed, then toppled forward, falling against someone from another school.

"Peter?" May asked, concerned, then "Peter!" she shouted when Peter finally lost his balance and his legs gave out, causing him to collapse to the ground.

"Bruce!" Peter could hear someone shout, then there was…an explosion…and lots of shouting; May screamed, and Tony grabbed her arm so he wouldn't lose her in the crowd. There was another explosion, closer, the room seemed to shake. Peter didn't remember closing his eyes but they were shut, and it was so _dark._ It should have been loud, in the room with all the screaming but everything seemed muffled. Someone grabbed him by the shoulders, and he relaxed into the grip; he gave a final heavy breath, then lost consciousness, expecting to wake up with Tony nearby, making sure he was okay.

The room was…moving, and loud. It was also freezing.

He forced himself to blink, then open his eyes to look around the room; it was made of wooden walls, with a heavy metal floor. Something was wrong; the room shouldn't be _moving._ Where was everyone? Where was May, Tony…the rest of the team?

"He is awake." A voice nearby said; Peter saw a man nearby in dark clothing, holding what he thought might be a rifle. He didn't know guns very well.

"I told you, he isn't important!" Another man shouted; Bruce, from over in another corner of the moving room.

"We told you, be quiet. Take the boy. You have done your job." The man said, to another man Peter hadn't seen in the room before. Someone grabbed his shoulders and pulled him along the rough metal ground to a door, which opened up, and made Peter's stomach turn. He was lifted and shoved forward, to stand on the platform between two train cars, while the man closed the door behind them, and opened the one in front of them. The door swung open and Peter was dragged through to another train cart; the door slammed shut behind him, and he was knocked in the back with the butt of a gun. He fell forward, and let his hands break his fall; bad idea, his wrists _hurt._

"You are a mistake, not meant to be here; a bonus." The man said, grinning down at Peter, as the teen moved onto his back, and tried to sit up. The man raised a foot, and pressed down sharply against Peter's chest, keeping him on the ground. "My payment is forfeit; I chose you instead. Lucky me."

"I don't thi-" Peter was cut off by the man raised his foot and kicking Peter hard in the cheek, knocking him onto his side. Peter groaned; he could already taste blood.

"No. Do not think; you just _do._ "

"Do…what..?" Peter asked, trying not to wince. The man didn't seem to like this, so he kicked Peter hard in the back.

"What you are told." The man said, grinning at the teen boy laying on the ground.

Bruce groaned; his head was spinning still from whatever they'd shot him with. It had been a lousy shot; the first dart had hit Peter. The explosions had worked to scatter the crowd so that whoever it was could get him out; apparently they had decided to take Peter as well. One of the men seemed to be too interested in the teenager; it was making Bruce feel sick.

"Ah, seems my colleague will be busy. No matter, I have other matters to attend to." The remaining man said to Bruce; Bruce was also sick of the man's smug grin. He knew that while Peter had fast healing, he still felt pain, and he doubted that the boy was being treated nicely on his own with…whoever the other man was. The man speaking to Bruce turned and walked towards the door Peter had left through. Bruce saw the tiny silver device on the ground; a green light was blinking on it.

 _Peter's beacon._

Could Bruce reach it? Would he even be able to? He suspected his hands were bound to the train wall behind him, judging by the heavy chains attached to his wrists. The man stepped over the beacon with his first foot; the second foot landed, crushing the small device, then the man simply left the cart, slamming the door shut behind him. He hadn't even seen the beacon; what kind of unfairness was that? Bruce stared at the tiny pile of crushed silver for what felt like hours, until the door swung open and someone was thrown onto the ground, not moving. Peter laid on the ground on his back; he was covered in bruises and Bruce could swear he could see cigarette burns on the boy's arms and neck. They were left in silence again.

"Peter?" Bruce asked, calling out to the Peter who felt so far away." Peter?!"

"I…I have the really...distinct feeling… that we need to-" Peter choked out, a whisper, then they heard something explode a distance away, near the front of the train. "…Move."

Peter groaned as he got to his hands and knees and slowly moved over to Bruce; Peter was in pain, but he wasn't weak, he just hurt a little to move. He was able to break the chains, then easily pulled the actual restraints apart to free Bruce. _Okay, moving hurt a lot._ The train lurched suddenly, metal screeching against metal as the brakes came on. There was sudden movement, as people filed into the room and grabbed Peter and Bruce; their panic meant no one noticed that Bruce wasn't meant to be loose already.

"It is a stark suit, get rid of it!" A man with a heavy Russian accent shouted, gesturing to a window nearby. Peter and Bruce were half dragged, half shoved to a cart closer to the front of the train. Bruce tried to help Peter stand up, but the man who had taken peter earlier didn't want it to happen, he dragged Peter alongside him, and kept a tight grip on the boy's arm.

"There! Get rid of it!" The man shouted again, pointing out of a window. "Get rid of the suit!"

Peter and Bruce were standing now so they could see outside; a field of snow covered grass, with half dead trees dotting the landscape. There was a metal suit sanding in the field, facing away from them, looking off into the distance. It could have been an Ironman suit…but…something was wrong, which made Peter think of growing up with May.

Peter loved lego, even as a kid; he had wanted a certain special edition Ironman kit for months. May saved for months and months to buy it for one of Peter's birthdays, he couldn't remember which one, and of course by then it wasn't new or cool anymore but Peter _loved_ it. He'd lost a piece of lego, a red piece from the back area of the suit; he didn't care, he still played with the kit. He found that piece a few years later, where it had fallen into a garden bed outside the apartment building; it had gone pale from the sun. It had been made into an off pink, with pale splotches where water must have pooled on it from rain. The suit Peter and Bruce could see, was that exact shade of old worn out pink.

The suit turned, having noticed the train, and stared ahead at them. Whoever was in the suit wasn't Tony; they weren't wearing a helmet. Peter could see blonde hair clearly as the suit walked towards the train and raised an arm; something fired from the wrist of the suit, and there were small dents forming in the wall of the train cart, the metal bending inwards, threatening to split open.

"Stop it, now!" Someone shouted. A man hurried over and threw a small silver ball out of the window. "Set it off!"

There was a buzz, then a wave of _something_ hit them, making both of them feel sick. An EMP, of some sort. Peter began to panic; who was in the suit? The EMP would likely short circuit the suit, and they'd all be in trouble. Peter ignored how his body felt, he had to, he had to figure out what was going on. Bruce had moved closer to the window, and closer to Peter; they were both watching, in sick horror, as the suit stopped.

Peter could hear a low hiss, then the suit began to move again; plates and panels adjusted, moving closer to the wearer's body, making it more streamlined. They were running towards the train now, arms moving in an almost robotic way, like in the cartoon Peter had seen about correct track form during sports at school. Peter could see the spots of rust on the metal suit now; how old was it? He was distracted by his body beginning to tingle.

"Dr Banner…something is telling me we need to move!" Peter said, suddenly yanking himself away from the man who had been holding him; he jumped away and shoved Bruce aside, both of them landing on the ground as the train cart rocked sideways, and the wall began to dent inwards, light starting to come through the cracks forming in the old metal paneling.

"Come back here!" The man shouted, moving towards Peter, snarling. "You are mine!"

The metal finally gave way with a sudden screech and light flooded through the new hole, where the suit was standing. A woman was wearing it; she looked like she was in her thirties, with dirty blonde hair in a tight bun, and a gash running across her cheek. There were drops of blood caught in her hair, which glinted in the sudden harsh sunlight.

"Destroy the suit! Stark can not track it here! He would find us!" Someone shouted, as a warning.

"No, he can not." The woman said in a heavy german accent, raising an arm towards the group of men who had raised their weapons at her. "Stark is not the one doing the tracking here. Where is the beacon?"

"There is no beacon! Leave!" Someone shouted; the answer was them flying back as a projectile left the wrist of the suit, and threw them backwards into the opposite train wall.

"Where is the beacon?!" She shouted, which frightened Peter enough that he sank back into Bruce; the man saw this and grinned at the fright on Peter's face.

"Ah child, come, I shall keep you safe from her." He said, leaning towards Peter and reached out for the same arm he had been holding before; there were faint fingertip marks left in the skin. This delighted the man, as did the other marks he had left on the boy. "Come my child, we shall keep you safe at _home."_

"Don't touch him!" Bruce shouted, pushing Peter aside; the man responded by raising a gun and keeping it level, aimed at Bruce's head.

"I shall enjoy the toy I was given as payment; now move, before I make you watch."

"It-it's not here…" Peter said, panicking as he dug through his pockets for the tiny device. "Oh she's gonna be pissed…"

"Who?" She asked, staring at Peter.

"T-the…Docto-"

"I told you before, to stay quiet!" The man shouted, raising an arm to reach and strike Peter, but failing to do so. A hand encased in pale pink metal had found his wrist and was holding tight, turning the skin white.

"What are your names?" She asked, looking over at Bruce and Peter.

"Bruce Banner, and his name is Peter. He's an intern of Stark Industries…he shouldn't be here…"

"Either should I." She said, hissing when the man tried to struggle away from her grip. "I heard that the Winter Soldier was back."

"Umm…y-yeah…? I suppose…" Peter stumbled over his words; he let Bruce move in front of him, though he knew he would be better at protecting Bruce than what was happening, it was a selfish move on his part. She walked over to the still intact wall of the cart and raised a leg, kicking at the wall until a large chunk of it split open and revealed that they were stopped on a mountain side, looking over a cliff edge, staring into nothing but white snow and broken trees. It felt too familiar to Peter and he could feel his stomach flip at the sight.

"Would you like to hear a story?" She asked, letting go of the man's arm and grabbing him by his shirt instead, pulling him towards the edge. "Have you heard about Bucky Barnes?"

The man shouted something in what Peter guessed was Russian, though he had no idea for sure.

"Bucky Barnes fell from a train, much like this one, and was lost to the world, kept in the clutches of HYDRA after they found him at the bottom of the mountain." She said, voice calm and flat. "Your story will have a similar ending, only you will not be found." She said, and with a single fluid movement and a hiss from the suit, she heaved the man, throwing him out over the open air and releasing him, sending him flying then falling, disappearing into the snowy abyss.

There was a gentle hissing, then a groan as she turned to face the men left in the train cart.

"Thief! Stolen suit." A man said, aiming a gun at her. "Stark does not care for the boy. He is expendable! Stark would not rescue! You are fake! Fake Stark! Do not lie to us!"

She took three heavy steps towards the man and grabbed him by the collar as well, and lifted him off the ground so that his feet dangled in the air.

"Tony Stark _wishes_ he was like me." She said, close to the man's face, then spun around and threw him as well, letting him disappear into the abyss, much like the first man. "He wishes he had this suit!"

She was quick to raise her arm and fire shots at the remaining men; some fell, others ran off into the snowy field, and disappeared into the tree line in the distance.

"The walk is not far, follow me." She said, not looking back at Bruce and Peter. Bruce helped Peter to his feet and supported the boy as they walked; Peter hated it but let it happen, he hadn't quite healed all the way yet. He hadn't wanted to tell Bruce about the pain in his lower leg, where he suspected something was broken. Bruce followed the woman in the suit through the snowy field, and down a slight embankment; he noticed that she was limping, favoring one leg over the other.

"Did you get hit?" Bruce asked. She didn't turn around when she answered. "No." They came to a small wooden shack, where she rapped on the door surprising gently considering the metal suit. An older man answered the door and the two of them spoke in quick Russian. The only world Bruce or Peter recognized was 'Stark'. The man nodded, and disappeared for a moment before exiting the house, locking it up and leading them to an old truck. It was a four-seater car, with a small tray attached to the back of it. Bruce helped Peter into the back seat while the old man climbed up front and started the car; a sudden shift of weight on the tray told them she was back there, watching, in case someone followed them. Peter hoped that's what she was doing anyway; the thought of it made him feel better. The truck pulled away from the little shack, and they were heading off down a dirt road. He had no idea where they were going; he was too exhausted to care.

 _I originally imagined this chapter with a certain song in mind but now I can't remember what song it was. Oops?_


	50. Chapter 50 - Air Powered

**Chapter 50**

 **Air Powered**

"It's been two days! Where the hell are they?!" Tony shouted, back at the tower. Nothing had provided them with any answers as to where Peter and Bruce had been taken after the explosions. They'd found both of their phones broken on the pavement outside the venue, then nothing. May was sitting on the couch, eyes red and wet, clutching a tissue in her hands. He'd had to tell her, of course he had; he didn't regret it. Peter hadn't gone missing as Spiderman, he had gone missing as Peter parker, a high school student, at a decathlon competition. Natasha and Clint had come back half an hour earlier; they hadn't stopped looking, until Steve ordered them to return to at least _pretend_ to sleep. May had made a huge pot of soup for the team, which Clint and Natasha accepted wordlessly.

"Tony…here." Steve said, placing a bowl of soup on the coffee table near Tony. "Three spoonfuls, that's all."

"Fine." Tony grumbled; Steve had noticed that Tony wasn't eating, it was something Tony did when he was frustrated, or worried, or terrified. All of which were happening at once.

"Sir-" Friday began.

"Did you find anything?" Tony interrupted.

"No sir-"

"Then be quiet." He grumbled into his soup; he'd had four spoonfuls now.

"Sir. Someone in is the elevator."

"So? Probab-"

"It is not a team member."

"What?" Tony looked up at the ceiling, as if daring Friday to repeat it. He could _not_ deal with anyone at the moment.

"It is not a team member. The person is heavy, with weight similar to that of an Ironman suit. They are approaching the floor." Tony stood up and shouted for someone, anyone to come help but Steve and Bucky were already there; Steve had his shield, while Bucky had a pistol. Natasha and Clint arrived a moment later. Clint took Steve's position, while Steve moved to stand in front of May. They stood in tense silence waiting; the elevator dinged finally, moments later. The doors opened, and in walked what _looked_ like an ironman suit, only it looked as though it had been abandoned and torn apart by the elements. Whoever it was, they were supporting Bruce, while also holding up a very battered, very bruised Peter Parker.

"What…the hell?" Tony asked, staring at the suit. There was an angry hiss, then the suit's knees buckled, and it dropped down, landing with a loud thud on the knees. The wearer groaned and let Bruce and Peter roll onto the ground.

"Peter!" May shouted and shoved past Steve, rushing over to her nephew who was laying still on the ground.

"Rogers, Barnes!" Clint shouted, dropping his handgun and rushing over to the suit. "Come here!" Steve and Bucky moved over slowly, and stood beside Clint, unsure what the man wanted. "There's a sort of…wheel, like a cog on the back place, turn it anti clockwise until it clicks. Quick!"

Steve and Bucky nodded, and followed Clint's instructions; the cog was hard to get going, it seemed to have been seized into place but finally, it began to turn then it stopped with a sudden loud click, and the back place suddenly fell away and hit the ground. The woman wearing the suit let out a sudden gasp then groaned as she straightened her back. Clint had Steve stand on the woman's left side, and Bucky on the right, so they could help the pull the chest plate away from the suit, which caused the woman to hiss in pain, then groan again.

"Tony, come here and help a sec." Clint said, and Tony listened. Clint and Tony helped the woman stand up, and step out of the suit, while Steve and Bucky held the chest plate away from the shoulder pieces.

"The hell are you doing in that old piece of crap?" Clint asked, letting the woman onto the ground so she could sit.

"…The hell a kid doing with a beacon?" She asked, glaring at Clint who could only look sheepish in response. "Look man, I wasn't exactly maintaining it."

"Because you retired!"

"Man, I'm not gonna ignore a fucking beacon from _The Doctor._ I'm retired, not stupid."

"So…who had them?"

"That german bunch, had a couple of Russians with them too. Weren't far from that dodgy little airport, just inside the german borders. Hadn't been there long, I don't think. They wanted your Doctor, I'm guessing they're not aware the original job giver is dead. Ended up with some kid as well." She said, groaning as she tried to stand up, but she was far too dizzy to do anything besides stay sitting.

"P…Peter…what happened?" May asked, cradling her nephew, who was unconscious; she swept some hair away from his forehead. She was frightened, and angered by all the marks she could see on his skin; bruises, cuts, cigarette burns. "What happened to him?"

"He was like that when I arrived." The woman said, taking a glass of water from Natasha with eager hands.

"…The person who did it…"

"May, we'll find them." Tony said, rubbing the woman's shoulder, as reassuring as he could be. He felt sick, looking at Peter. What the hell had happened? Clint helped Bruce onto a couch, and quickly got the man a glass of water and some soup.

"Good luck." The woman said after skulling the glass of water; Natasha took it and refilled it immediately.

"What's that supposed to mean?' Tony demanded.

"Means that he relived the story of the great Bucky Barnes." She said, taking the refilled glass of water from Natasha.

"…Bucky Barnes fell off a train." Bucky said; Tony heard the voice, oh okay, it was Winter. The woman gave a smirk to Winter, then winced when she straightened her back a little too much. "The person who did this fell off a train?"

"…In a sense…"

"You threw someone off a train?!" Clint asked, almost about to laugh. He controlled it though, this wasn't the time.

"Two someones." She said, begrudgingly allowing Natasha to remove her long sleeve sweater, revealing the singlet she was wearing underneath.

"Holy shit!" Tony shouted, seeing the woman without her arms covered. "She puts you two to shame!" He said, looking at Steve and Winter, then back to the woman. Tony had never seen such tense, tightly packed muscle before in his life. The woman didn't seem big in the suit, though Tony didn't really think much about it past the fact Peter and Bruce were back but the woman was _built._

"She has to, to lug that piece of shit around." Clint said, nodding his head at the suit. "She's like the cheapo version of you."

"Aww come on Barton, let me have some fucking afterglow after saving the day. I'm a fucking hero." She whined, shaking her head as she smiled. Natasha was busy checking her over for any wounds; she seemed okay, besides the mark on her face. Tony had moved over to the suit and was busy inspecting it.

"There's no power system!" He shouted, looking over the suit with new excitement. "It's rusted to fuck and it has no power system; I love it. I want it."

"Man, you have to give it back, I need that shit." She said, looking at Tony with confusion.

"Oh I can do that. New paint, upgrades, power! Oh my god let me have it! Why doesn't it have a power system!?"

" _You_ were the power system for your suit Tony, she doesn't have a battery powered heart." Natasha said, glaring at Tony. "How's your heart, anyway?" Natasha asked the woman, who shrugged.

"Bad as ever. Doc got me some new pain medication sorted, which is nice. I can actually sleep now, most of the time anyway."

"You were limping, earlier." Bruce said from the couch, he'd had two bowls of soup and a countless number of glasses of water.

"Crappy prosthetic." She said, shrugging. Winter eye's opened a little wider. "Bad knee, not really one to trust known bad guys to cut me open for surgery so it hasn't been looked at in forever."

"Thank you." May said, no one had noticed her move from Peter. "Thank you…for saving my nephew."

May was quicker than expected and she wrapped her arms around the woman in a tight hug, which surprised her.

"May! Crazy assassin!" Tony shouted, alarmed.

"Excuse me! Not an assassin." The woman grumbled but slowly returned the hug; it was a bad idea, as she _really_ didn't want to let go. May was glad, and with a small sniffle let go again and went back to Peter.

"So…what are you?" Tony asked.

"A mechanic."

"An injured mechanic." Bruce said, frowning. "Can we at least check you over before you go?"

"…Sure, why the hell not." She said, much to Clint and Natasha's surprise. Everyone let her rest, while Tony helped Bruce get Peter down to the medbay then Bruce came up to bring her downstairs as well, once Peter was resting in a medical cot. Bruce had her stand still so that Friday could run scans and try to get some x-rays, to check for internal damage.

"…Huh." Bruce mumbled, looking over the scans while she stretched her arms and back. "Clint wasn't kidding…"

"What about Brucie goose?" Tony asked, entering the room, holding a pile of pink metal in his arms. "Watcha looking at?"

"Her scans…"

"She's got…how is that possible?" Tony asked, seeing what Bruce was so apparently confused by. In her chest there was…something solid and metal, sitting where her heart should be. As well as this, there seemed to be metal bolts in the majority of her joints, some running along bones, like the ones in her forearms and lower legs, one extending out from the ruined remains of what should have been a prosthetic.

"…Who did the original prosthetic surgery?" Bruce asked, staring at the scans. "Can we look at it?"

"At my…leg? I guess…" She said, a little uneasy. "Grab me some shorts or something."

Bruce sent a message, and Natasha arrived with a pair of loose fitting shorts a few minutes later, which the lady changed into in the bathroom nearby. A few hours later, Clint was helping the woman into a stark hired car, and bid her farewell. Tony was going to hold onto the suit to make repairs, while Bruce would go over the scans of the knee replacement and see what could be done to repair it.

"Clint, who is she, actually?" Bruce asked a few mornings later, as Steve loaded up a plate of pancakes to take to Peter, who was hiding in his bedroom.

"Huh?"

"Pink suit, busted knee, threw a guy off a train. Ringing any bells?"

"Yeesh, someone's feeling sassy today. Her name's Katherine."

"…I meant her like…bad guy name? Is she a bad guy?"

"Not really, she's a good guy when it suits her, bad guy when she had to be. She retired years ago because being alive hurts too much, basically. Her codename is Clockwork."

"I thought she was a mechanic?"

"She's fucking crazy!" Tony shouting, stepping out of the elevator. "It has no power source! It's all…air powered! Pressurized air! All of it! Movement, weapon firing…how the hell- hey!"

Tony was interrupted by Bucky suddenly bolting from the kitchen, down to Peter's room. Steve was on the ground, backed into a corner, with a bruise forming on his cheek. Peter was standing straight, alert, but was already starting to shrink back when he heard Bucky entered the room.

"Don't touch me!" Peter wasn't shouting, he was pleading. "Go away! Please…just…go awa- no!"

Bucky reached out and grabbed Peter by the shoulders, steering him to sit on the edge of the bed, while Steve slowly stood up and rubbed his cheek.

"Kid…kid! It's fine, you're fine, you're okay." Bucky was saying, letting peter crawl backwards on the bed until he was at the wall, trapped. "Did you want us to get Stark?"

"No! Just…no I don't want…" Peter curled in on himself, hugging his knees to his chest. "I just don't…I don't know."

"Rogers, out!" Bucky said, shoving Steve out into the hallway, and closing the bedroom door once Steve was no longer in the room. Bucky gave a sigh then dropped onto the bed beside Peter and leant back against the wall, closing his eyes.

"Ummm…?"

"Steve's a good friend, love him to death and all but…he gets weird, when I talk about HYDRA stuff."

"Oh…why's that?"

"It just makes him want to go and find some HYDRA agents to kill. I try to avoid mentioning it around him. He's a good guy just…very driven. Very eager for any reason to go after HYDRA."

"Oh…well…why is that?"

"I was with HYDRA for…a long ass time, but I wasn't…Winter, that whole time. I fought it off, for as long as possible. They…it was rough, I thought I'd get through it…Winter always came out, during sessions…he was better at it, braver, stronger. Finally, it was too much, it was just easier, to give in. I had to talk to SHIELD, about the torture originally, and of course some idiot let Steve read the file. He lost it, must've taken down three HYDRA bunkers on his own that week, the idiot."

"W-why…"

"I'm tell you because, you got tortured kid. You can try to deny it, try to ignore what happened but it _did happen._ I'm not here to make you talk about it, that just…reliving it is jst as bad as it happening. Just…if you end up wanting to talk about it, we're all here, we understand." Bucky said, standing up from the bed and moving to leave the room. He grabbed the doorknob when Peter spoke again.

"W-what…was the worst part? For you?"

"Like I said…Winter took the brunt of it, it took quite awhile for them to realize he was there. For me, the worst part was coming back as myself, not knowing how long I'd be there. Ask Winter sometime, he'll have a better answer." Bucky said, leaving the room and closing the door gently behind him.

"Well, I'm not definitely _not_ doing that." Peter said to himself, and sprawled out over the bed. He wanted to have a shower but he'd already had three that day and none of them had made him feel any cleaner. He slowly drifted to sleep, imagining how a conversation with the Winter Soldier would go, when Peter asked about his experience with torture. He decided it likely wouldn't go very well, just as he fell asleep.

Peter stumbled out of bed and into the lounge a few hours later; it was dark outside, though didn't know if it meant it was late in the day, or super early in the morning. He didn't really care; he was just hungry.

"Been a while since I have run into you here. Such good memories." Winter said, from the kitchen where he was making a cup of coffee. He had no proof but he suspected it was Stark who had left the little instruction book on how to use the machine. "How are you going with recovery?"

"What recovery?" Peter asked, while Winter grabbed another mug fro the cabinet and emptied a hot chocolate sachet into it, stirring it while he added hot water.

"I was there when that…woman carried you inside." He explained, passing the hot chocolate to Peter and sitting at a seat on the opposite of the dining table, Peter slid into a seat as well, and cupped his hands around the warm mug. "Also, just because you are having a conversation with Barnes, doesn't mean I am not aware of it."

"O-oh…yeah…"

"So, were you going to ask me?"

"N-no…I-"

"Why not?"

"It's just…it's personal."

"And yet, I would rather talk to you about it, than SHIELD. Or Stark."

"Why not Mister Stark?" Peter asked, which Winter raised an eyebrow at.

"He is not…my biggest fan. He understands, to a degree, how I work with Barnes, a package deal he called it. It is not something I can blame him for, being uncomfortable about me being here but Barnes is here, so I am here."

"I guess…I bet he'll get used to it though. He got used to me." Peter said with a small smile.

"You say that like it is difficult to do so. People seem to just like you, it is a strange thing to see."

"What?! You're so wrong, I'm like the most unpopular ki-"

"…You met a woman, known to SHIELD for being so good with poisons that someone wanted her to make something to take down the Hulk, fully believing she would be able to do it. She believed she could do it!" Winter said, a little shocked and oddly, annoyed. "And immediately, she decides that not a single fucking thing is going to harm you. You are a strange pest that people become attached to."

"Pest as a joke because spiders or…?"

"Because it is a good word to describe you." Winter said, smirking.

"… _Jerk."_ Peter whispers, forgetting that Winter has heightened hearing and the other man laughs. It's a strange sound but it's…good. Makes Peter feel a little less heavy, a little less…dirty.

"Mister Stark's been…distant. Kind of my fault, I've been hiding…but I know he wants to ask questions. That's how he works, he just has to _know_ stuff, to feel better." Peter said, slowly.

"What does he want to know?"

"I think…Bruce was kind of tip toeing around it as well, I think he wants to know…not really…what the guy _did,_ in detail just…" Peter was trying to find the right words, without being sick.

"…They want to know if it went past just…physical torture?" Winter asked, frowning, then nodding. "They want to know if it was sexual."

Peter wanted to run. No one else had been able to say it, not around him at least. Why was Winter the first one? Stupid Parker luck.

"…Well?" Winter asked, staring at Peter.

"W-what?"

"Was it?"

"No!" Peter shouted, jumping up from his seat, knocking the hot chocolate over so that it spilt over the dining table. "He never…he said we had to wait…til we were…home…" Peter felt sick saying the words.

"…I have a question." Winter said, moving from the table to wet a cloth, so he could clean up the spilt drink.

"W-what is it?" Peter asked, noticing the mess he had made. "Oh…I can-"

"You can sit down. I will make another drink for you." Winter said as he wiped up the small puddle of liquid, and took the cup back to the kitchen to make another hot chocolate for Peter. "Why do you not fight, when you are…yourself?"

"O-oh…it's…kinda stupid, I suppose." Peter said, accepting the fresh mug of hot chocolate with a sheepish smile.

"I would still like to know."

"I…if I use my powers…in public, people will get curious. Which means they'll look at me, into me and…find stuff I don't want them to find. Only have May left in my family…and I have Ned and MJ as my friends…I don't want…anything to happen to them."

Winter was looking at Peter weirdly; not dangerous, just…confused, maybe.

"The team aren't your friends?" Winter finally asked.

"I- I don't know?" Peter squeaked out. "They tolerate me I guess, because of Mister Stark…"

"…Well, I think you are wrong but I will no argue it with you." Winter said, walking past Peter, to leave the room. "The worst part for me was them talking. The taunting, saying what was about to happen. It made everything more…real, I suppose, thinking about it before it began. I don't enjoy people rambling, which is a difficulty, living here."

Winter left Peter alone, to think, clutching the cup of hot chocolate. Peter thought, over something he had been meaning to ask Steve and Bucky, as a joke, to tease them about being old. He hadn't thought about Winter, but the words still tumbled out of his mouth.

"Have you ever heard of comic conventions?"


	51. Chapter 51 - A Hero For Kids

**Chapter 51**

 **A Hero For Kids**

 ** _You can skip the italic wording! It is some stuff from the life of Clockwork and the Doctor! The regular fic is below, in not italics, yay!_**

 _The walk home wasn't as bad as usual; the air was warmer than it had been recently, and the girl at the bakery had given her an extra biscuit, free of charge. Awesome. She arrived at her apartment and climbed up the front steps, waving at the kids who were playing outside. They eyed her, as their parents did, though they ended up grinning and waving back at her, unlike their parents._

 _Her knee gave an audible click as she pushed the door open, when her knee ended up seizing, sending pain up through the leg, to her hip and the lower part of her chest. She gave a surprised shout and clutched the doorframe, steadying herself but dropping her plastic bag of groceries. She stared at the groceries, glaring at them more than just staring, then decided she hated them and everything else and forced her leg to carry her inside, and up the staircase to her apartment. She would come back in a moment to clean up the mess. She hadn't bought anything breakable, some bread and a few packets of microwave meals, plus a box of protein balls which she was excited to try, or had been, at least. She finally got to her door and after fishing her keys from her jeans pocket, while leaning herself against the wall, she unlocked the door and let herself into the dark apartment._

 _She was meticulous in cleaning and when she had left her place had smelt of nothing except lemon cleaner and bleach, so the fact it smelt faintly of cigarettes and strongly of coffee right now, was a very obvious warning sign. She frowned, then groaned as she walked towards the kitchen, where she found a dirty coffee mug sitting on the counter, next to the sink. There was a faint brown mark next to the cup, where it had obviously spilt over the mug's edge and dried onto the countertop._

" _Do you know that your house is fucking freezing?" A voice to her side asked, and she groaned again._

" _I know, I live here. The heater stays off if I'm not home, it's expensiv-" She tried to answer but was cut off by a sudden knock at her front door. She glared at the woman, noticing the small dart gun on the dining table next to her, but stopped herself commenting before she went to answer the front door._

" _Morning, ma'am." A boy said, a teenager, she guessed. He was holding her shopping bag._

" _Sorry, I was coming back down to get it." She said, taking the bag from him, feeling guilty._

" _It's no problem ma'am, Ma told us you have an injury, she said it's always good to help war vets, since they helped us." The boy said, smiling. "My sister saw you drop it downstairs so she asked me to carry it up, it was a bit too heavy for her. Have a good day!"_

 _She gave her thanks, in english and german, before closing the door and noticing the laughter coming from the kitchen._

" _A war vet?" The woman asked, sipping from the new cup of coffee she had made herself._

" _First thing that came to mind when her kid asked me what was wrong with my leg." She said, quickly putting the few groceries away, then pulling out her cleaning spray and disposable wipes._

" _Someone's gone back to being a neat freak then, huh?"_

 _She ignored the woman at her dining table and washed out the coffee mug, then scrubbed away the stains left by the spilt coffee, and switched to a bench top bleach to wipe the whole thing over._

" _Don't ignore meeeee." The woman whined, swinging her feet underneath the chair she was sitting on. The chair gave a soft creak everytime the woman swung her legs which she tried so hard to ignore it, to filter out the sound that shouldn't bother her so much. She took a deep breath and let herself settle, focusing on the smell of the cleaners; the chair squeaked again, a little louder than previously._

" _Would you fucking sit still?!" She shouted, spinning around to stare at the woman, ready to throw her out of the window she was sitting near. The other woman didn't say anything but she did stop, lowering her feet to rest on the ground slowly._

" _I thought you were meant to be retired." The woman said, as if she was completely bored with the conversation now._

" _I am. Now go home." She said, trying not to just…snap. Her leg hurt, so much, why was this woman here again? She watched the woman pull something out of her pocket, a small speaker of some sort, and press play._

" _He wishes he had this suit!" She heard herself yell, the sound of angry wind behind her voice._

" _Someone found him, after all." The woman grinned, leaning forward, elbows on her knees. "So, why'd you-"_

" _Why the fuck did you give the kid a beacon?! He is a child, some…toy of Stark's!" She shouted, holding the edge of the counter to stop herself collapsing to the ground, like her knee wanted her to do. "Why the fuck did you-" She was cut off when she gave a cry of pain, and dropped to her knees, which only sent more pain up her body, digging into her chest. The chair moved quickly, as did the footsteps, then someone was standing next to her and helping her up to her feet, so they could help her move to the couch in the lounge room to sit down._

" _Remind me why I left you alone?" The woman said, sitting on the armchair she had dragged over._

" _Because I told you to? What do you want, Doc?" She asked, leaning back into the stiff couch, lifting her head enough so she could watch the Doctor._

" _Mmm, poor reason in my opinion. Didn't you miss me?" The voice was teasing, almost nasty but the question was real._

" _Wasn't asking for your opinion and, what do you think?"_

" _I think…" The Dctor said, moving from her chair and walking over to the couch, to lean down over her, close. "…that you've been avoiding me."_

" _Whatever gave you that idea?" She asked, grinning up the woman; a hand cupped her chin and she felt the warmth in her stomach that she had missed; it had been awhile since she'd felt it._

"…So where are we going?" Clint asked; he just had to be sure he'd heard Tony right.

"I already _told_ you, we're going to a comic convention." Tony said, looking up from his convention floor map to glare at Clint.

"I thought that's what you said. _Why_ are we going to a comic convention then?"

"Barton stop whining! You're ruining it for the rest of us." Bucky said, grinning. They were walking towards the huge building being used to host the convention, following after Peter and Ned.

"So, you have to go to booth one-sixty, one-sixty-three and one-sixty-four?" Peter asked, and Ned nodded. The two boys were walking side by side, looking at the same floor map.

"Yeah, should we do lunch before or after the signing?" Ned asked.

"Probably after. We've got granola bars for while we're in line, I don't want to be late and get stuck way back in line like last time."

The team watched as Peter and Bed crossed a road; neither of them were looking at the road, Peter was holding Ned's sleeve, and used it to steer ned, to avoid cyclists or cars. They stepped off onto the other side of the road, and kept walking. Peter had let go of Ned's shirt now and the two were still walking.

"…What did I just watch?" Clint asked. "Steve, go yell at them for road safety!"

"…Do you think that's going to do anything?" Steve asked, raising an eyebrow. The team had crossed the street now, but Peter and Ned had already made it over another street, and were waiting near the walkway up to the convention venue. They were talking to a girl who looked about their age, she was holding two rather large duffel bags.

"-drawstring might not work, hopefully it doesn't break again like it did when we did the test photos." She was saying when the group finally caught up with the boys. "Anyway, I'll see you guys later!"

The group watched her walk off, then disappear up some stairs.

"Who was that?" Tony asked.

"She's from school, she's gonna be in cosplay later!" Peter said, grinning. "We'll go find her, you'll love it."

"…Uh, huh. I'm sure I will. Where to first?"

"Huh? We've already planned our day, go sort yourselves out!" Peter said, with a grin as he and Ned ran off into the crowd, obviously eager to start on their plans.

"…Huh." Is all Tony had to say.

"Well, we can just go walk around the booths I guess?" Clint suggested, which is what they did. As a group they walked through the crowded vendor's hall, then the artist's alley, looking over things for sale, talking to the people running the booths. A booth caught Bucky's eye; it felt really familiar. It was a lady selling a book; she was young, in her early twenties with dark hair and glasses, typing away on a laptop. She looked up when Bucky walked over, the others following behind him.

"Morning!" She said cheerfully, closing the laptop. "Are you already a reader or are you new?"

"Umm, I've sort of read it, I know someone who's an actual fan though."

"Oh great! I'm selling hard copies of the first fifteen chapters, and you'll get a new hard copy of the next fifteen sent out when they're finished." She said, smiling at Bucky, apparently unaware of who he was; he _had_ decided to wear long sleeves that day, which likely helped. Tony was looking over some drawings that were on the table, artists' interpretations of what the characters were meant to look like. One caught his eye, a young boy, with curly brown hair and big brown eyes.

"You should get it." Natasha said, looking at the picture of Tony's shoulder.

"Yeah…should I?" Tony asked, a little unsure. "No, I will, he'll like it. If he hasn't already got it."

"You know a fan?" She asked, grabbing a plastic bag for the book Bucky had bought.

"Same one he knows." Tony said, nodding towards Bucky. "Wait, Bucky do you count as one or two fans?"

Bucky rolled his eyes and took the plastic bag, giving her a thank you.

She laughed at the question and asked, "What?"

"Split personality deal." Tony said, grinning as the woman took the picture and grabbed some tissue paper to wrap it. "It's super weird."

"Only because he doesn't like you." Clint said from behind the group; he'd gone to look at another booth, and had returned with a plastic bag of his own.

"Oh!" She said, noticing Clint. "Sorry, hang on a sec." She said, wheeling her chair back to a bag on the floor, and coming back with something in her hand, a small red book. She held the book out towards Clint; it was a small book, covered in red leather, with a small heart on the spine in gold ink.

"My sister asked me if I could get some signatures today, she gave me a list." She said. "If you don't-"

"Me?!" Clint asked, grinning. "Heck yeah!"

He took the book and a pen from her, and found the page with his name on the top and signed his name; he also drew a little doodle of a bird. He flicked through the pages, to see who else was there. Black Widow, Falcon…the only names Clint knew, besides various actors.

"Nat! Sign it!" Clint said, passing the book and pen to her. She blinked, obviously not prepared but she did sign it, adding a little drawing of a spider next to her name. "Falcon?"

"You want Wilson?" Bucky asked, barking out a laugh.

" _No,_ my sister does, she loves flying, she's going for her pilot's exam soon." She said as she took the book back from Natasha and wheeled back to return it to her bag. "Thanks so much for that."

"Man, my pleasure." Clint said, and Natasha nodded. They said their goodbyes and left the table; Tony grabbed a business card on the way. "You're so getting her a signature, aren't you?"

"Shut up, Barton." Tony said as he tucked the card into his pocket. "Was that our one and only Parker over there?"

They saw the mess of brown hair through the crowd and headed for it, finding Peter and Ned, watching a couple getting their photos taken.

"Oh my fucking god." Tony said, grinning. They could see the couple, a girl and boy, standing in front of a blank white wall, posing. She was dressed as a very accurate Black Widow, while the boy was a very accurate Hawkeye, complete with a bow.

"-doesn't look very good, does it?" Bucky heard someone say nearby, two girls about Peter's age, standing to his side.

"No, she should've gone less… _skin tight."_ The other girl said, and both grinned. Bucky looked at Natasha, who was staring ahead, clenching her hands into fists. She must've heard the girls as well. The photo session must've ended while he was distracted, since the two were back over with Peter and Ned, chatting.

"You're an awful intern, Parker." Tony said, appearing behind peter, looping an arm over the teen's shoulders. "Abandoning me at some building I've never been to, to fend for myself."

"What are you talking about?" Peter asked, laughing. "I'm sure the others would've kept an eye on you."

"What, bird brain and the soldier twins?" Tony asked, raising an eyebrow, grinning. "I'm sure."

Peter rolled his eyes but let Tony lean against him. Clint and Natasha were busy staring at their two doppelgangers, even if they were quite a bit younger, it was still unsettling.

"Barton, why don't you look that good in your uniform?" Natasha asked.

"I was asking myself the same thing." Clint said, laughing. "You two look awesome."

"O-oh, thanks. Umm…Peter, some warning would've been good." The girl said, red blush peeking out from underneath her makeup. "So glad that the bowstring held up."

"Man, I would've just given up if it broke again." The boy, joining her, a lopsided grin on his face as he wrapped his arms around her shoulders from behind. "Nice to meet you all."

"Likewise, did you guys make all your own stuff?" Tony asked, looking over the props left on the ground, near the photographer.

"Sure did!" The boy said. "Well, I made the props, she sewed all the actual costume bits because I'm hopeless with a sewing machine."

"Guys, meet Tess and Darren, they're in our grade at school." Peter said, smiling at the team. "They actually have a whole group."

"…Wait, really?" Clint asked.

"Yeah, only one they don't have is the Hulk but I'm pretty sure someone does Bruce."

"Hold on! Is there a me?!" Tony asked, cackling.

"Oh yeah, that's Brian, Sasha does a genderbent version as well." The girl, Tess, said.

"…Peter, what the fuck does genderbent mean?"

"I am not getting into that. I'll just find some of their group photos for you."

"… _Fine."_ Tony moaned, dragging Peter away by his shoulders, and disappearing into the crowd. Clint demanded a photo with the two cosplayers and left with a grin on his face.

"That was awesome!" Clint said, bouncing as they walked out of the venue, watching other groups of cosplayers take their photos, posing and just…having fun.

"Holy fucking shit, there's Winter!" Tony shouted, pointing out into the crowd. Sure enough, at the end of the large outdoor area, there was a man with shoulder length dark hair, wearing a replica of the Winter's Soldier combat armor, complete with a possibly fake metal arm.

"Whoa, it is!" Clint shouted once he'd seen the man.

"Fuck." Bucky said, catching sight of what everyone else had seen. They watched the man and noticed as a little girl wandered over, a piece of paper in her hand and held it out to the man, pen in hand as well. The man glanced down at the girl but looked away when he noticed a pair of girls nearby, and moved over to them, knocking the girl aside as he did.

"Yo, what the fuck?" Clint asked out loud to himself, watching the little girl pick up her pen, wiping her nose with her wrist. Bucky considered it but it was Winter in the back of his head, pushing him, so he decided to walk over to the girl and crouch down, so he was closer to being her height.

"You okay?" He asked her

"I j-just wanted…him to sign it." She said and Bucky noticed that the piece of paper was actually a printed photo of him, taken during a battle they'd had a few weeks go. It was an easy battle though he was pretty sure Peter had caught him so closer to the ground on purpose.

"Do you like him?" Bucky asked, looking at the picture. "The Winter Soldier, I mean." She gave a brief nod in response. "Alright, hang on."

He fidgeted with his sweater before pulling it off, yanking it over his head and dropping it next to his feet, putting the arm on full display. She stared at him, and he waited to see if if it was shock, horror or just her being happy.

"Muuuuum!" She shrieked suddenly. "it's him! Its him! It's hiiimmm!"

"Sweetheart, what's wrong?" A woman asked fantic, appearing beside the little girl and lifting her up.

"it's him!" The little girl said, grinning, eyes wide at Bucky who had stood up.

"Sweetheart, there's lots of people in costume here, I told you that."

"Err…" Bucky rubbed his neck with his metal arm, looking sheepishly at the woman. "Real deal, actually."

"Oh- oh! I'm so sorry, we've never been to one of these before. Her older brother is here in costume and we came along as well." The woman said.

"Don't worry about it, I'm not out in public much." Bucky said, smiling. "Did you want a signature or-"

"Yesssss!" The girl yelled, and Bucky had to laugh at her excitement while he signed the picture of himself. He noticed the girl's red shirt, and the spider on the front of it.

"Nice shirt." He said, passing her photo back.

"Mum made it! Special for my birthday." The girl said, beaming. "He's my _favourite."_

"I've been placed below an insect? My goodness, hang on." Bucky said then turned his head to face the others and shouted. "Stark! Your spider brat around?"

Tony blinked at the question, but shrugged.

"Uhh…maybe?" He called back. Clint was on his phone, texting someone. "I'm sure we could drag him here, if we try really hard."

"Oh no! it's fine, really, don't bother him." The woman was saying.

"He's a sucker for literally any attention he can get, don't worry about it- oh." Bucky said, as the red and blue hero dropped onto the ground behind the woman, landing on his feet as he rolled out of his flip. "Well, that was quick."

"What's up?" Spiderman asked, startling the woman, who spun to face her and her daughter to face the hero.

"SPIDERMAAAAAAAANNNN!" The little girl shouted, and Bucky had to laugh again.

"This kid's awesome." Bucky said, grinning. Spiderman chatted to the girl, signed her shirt then in very…Peter fashion, flipped backwards, webbed the ceiling and threw himself up, then threw himself sideways and across to a building nearby, which he disappeared around.

"Whooooaaa!"

"Wait was that the actual Spiderman?"

Tony grinned at the excited shouts, and grinned even wider at Bucky who had joined them, his sweater back on his body.

"Welcome back, done your good deed for today?" Tony asked Bucky who shrugged in response.

"I'm the hero this town needs." Bucky said, face breaking into a grin. "Or the kids, at least."

"Hey man, could we grab a photo?" Someone asked behind him; Bucky turned to see the same man as earlier, who was dressed as him.

"No." Bucky said and turned away, walking off with the rest of the group. Clint turned back to flip his middle finger up at the man, before the group disappeared around a corner of the building, ready to head home.

Natasha was not amused by Clint's purchase, which he showed her once they'd got back to the tower. A tiny plush chibi version of himself and Natasha.

"Barton-"

"Pleeeaaasseee! I want to keep them!" Clint said, ready to plead if he had to.

"Oh my god, fine, just stop with that voice!"

"Yes, you're the best!" Clint said, with a smirk, though he did have to dodge a bowl that Natasha threw at him.


	52. Chapter 52 - Home Security

**Chapter 52**

 **Home Security**

 _A knock at the front door woke her up. She groaned and raised a hand up to cover her eyes, glaring at the window blind for not being closed, letting the morning sun into the bedroom. The knocking came again, rhythmic, steady. She pushed the cover away as she sat up, feeling a warmth in the blankets from the person who was still curled up, asleep. She could see short dark hair amongst the white blankets and decided that she would have to deal with that later._

" _God damn, it's too fucking early." She mumbled as she climbed out of bed, realizing she wasn't really wearing much; a shirt and underwear. Her hair had been pulled out of it's ponytail and left to go wild. She grabbed a loose pair of sweats from the chair full of clean clothes that had to be put away a few days ago and headed for the front door. She pulled the door open to find a man waiting on the other side; he was wearing a neat suit and had slightly thinning hair. He looked like someone who didn't have the muscles necessary to smile._

" _Morning, sorry, you woke me up." She said, smiling at the man. Maybe the smile would insult him, since she didn't think he was able to do it as well._

" _I apologise for waking you- ah, I didn't know you had company." He said as she heard footsteps behind her. Arms wrapped around her waist from behind and tightened around her just enough to make her want to sink back against the person._

" _Morning Suits, strange seeing you all the way out here." The Doctor said, resting her chin on the woman's shoulder._

" _You know each other?" She asked and could feel the other woman's chin move as she grinned._

" _He came to see me in Italy, needed some help with Stark." She said. "Part of SHIELD, aren't ya Suits."_

" _Correct."_

" _Well fantastic, so why are you here?" Clockwork asked, deciding there was no need for any fake pleasantries. It was too early for SHIELD to be bothering her._

" _I'm here on behalf of Tony Stark." The nicely dressed man said._

"… _Well, why? What's he want? He got his doctor back."_

" _I'll go make coffee." The Doctor whispered, lips brushing against her ear before she pulled away and headed into the kitchen._

" _It was Barton actually, who suggested it to Stark. Took him a few days to...decide on it." Suits explained._

" _What's your name?" She asked._

" _Coulson." The man answered without hesitation. "And yours?"_

" _Clockwork!" The Doctor called out from the kitchen._

" _You can call me Val." She told him, shaking her head. "I hate that nickname. Anyway, what did Stark send you here for?"_

 _The man, Coulson, moved his hands from behind his back and held a white box out towards her; there was an envelope sitting on top of it, made from metallic purple cardboard. She took the box, frowning at it._

" _I was just asked to deliver it. The envelope explains what it is, so I've been told."_

" _I-"_

" _SHIELD does not know I am here. Barton asked me to do a favor for his team and I accepted. SHIELD does not and will not know I was here, nor will they know about who was here. Have a good day." He said, gave her a quick nod before walking off down the hallway. She shut the door and headed to the couch where the Doctor was already sitting, two cups of coffee on the small coffee table in front of her._

" _Stark send you a present?" She asked._

" _I guess?" She shrugged, sitting on the couch and adjusting herself until she was comfortable, then opened the envelope with a quick tear of cardboard and pulled out the two folded pieces of paper which were inside of it._

 _To Clockwork,_

 _I'm sorry, that's the only name Mister Barton could give me to address you by; I'm sorry if this name isn't one you like to be referred to as. I asked Mister Stark if he could pass these on to you, I hope he was able to; my nephew, Peter, helped me pick what to make. It isn't much but I wanted to send you something to say thank you, for what you did for my family. I only have my nephew left, since my husband passed away some time ago._

 _Thank you for saving my nephew, there's nothing I can say to really say how grateful I am. Please enjoy the treats I've sent; Peter helped make them as well, they are from both of us._

 _From Aunt May_

 _To Crazy Suit Lady,_

 _Did Agent find you? He's good at finding people. Did you know he died once? Came back from the dead, it was a whole thing. Anyway, I hope you enjoy what May sent you, she's a good person. We did all freak out at her later for hugging you because who the hell does that?_

 _Also, what the fuck is in your chest? The scans don't show it clearly enough for us to know but we really want to know. Are you a robot? I'm good at fixing robots, I have lots of them. Do you want a robot? It could keep you company; Barton said you retired. I retired as well. Look how well that went. This suit is…garbage. It's total garbage and I love it. I'll get Agent to return it to you when it's all fixed up. I'm thinking of leaving it the weird pink, maybe just sealing it so it won't rust further. How did you even make this thing move? It's rusted to shit. Are you actually a super solider? I won't tell anyone. The chest plate has some kind of…opening, for something to connect to it. Is it missing a piece? If you let me know I can try and fabricate something to replace it._

 _Bruce is making really quick work designing a new knee for you, we'll start making some test pieces this week and see what is going to work the best. Do you have a surgeon? I can arrange one for you. Best in the business and they know how to keep their mouth shut about patients. Barton said you've had leg pain since he's known you but he isn't sure how long you've had it for totally. I asked him if he'd helped you get out of the suit before and he told me to fuck off. Sorry. I was just curious if you have to have a second person to help you take it off or if it has a release system; it looks like it did once. Anyway. Oh, Peter wanted me to ask you who your favourite superhero is._

 _Agent will get in contact when there's some suit and/or knee progress._

 _Oh! We included something extra in the box; May doesn't know about it. We sort of stole your idea. Sorry._

 _\- Tony Stark_

" _Well, what did she give you?" The Doctor asked, once she had finished reading the letters as well. "She sounds tough, if she hugged you. I like her."_

" _Good god, don't say that, the Avengers will come after us." She said, laughing as he opened to the box to reveal an assortment of biscuits and chunks of fudge._

" _There's a whole bakery in that box!" The Doctor said, grinning as she took a handful of the treats and went to town. They sat in silence, eating the treats and sipping on their coffees, when the Doctor spoke again, breaking the silence. "What's that?"_

 _In the bottom corner of the box was a small metal device, with a blinking green light on one side. She picked up in with two fingers and held it in the palm of her hand, rolling it around._

" _Did- did the avengers make a beacon?" The Doctor asked, staring at the little metal thing. "Also, it was my idea!"_

" _Oh calm down, I'm not going to keep it." She said, placing the little thing on the coffee table._

" _Why not?"_

" _I'm thinking I can give it to someone else." She said, smiling at the doctor, moving across the couch so they were closer._

" _Only if I get to come visit them with you." The Doctor said, looping her arms around the other woman's shoulders._

" _Fine." She mumbled in the Doctor's shoulders, smiling._

"It's snoooooooowing!" Peter shouted, stepping into his apartment and finding May on the couch, the apartment a mess.

"Peter!" May shouted and jumped to her feet, pulling Peter into a tight hug. "Oh thank god you're okay."

"M-May, I'm fine. What's wrong?" Peter asked and noticed the smashed plates in the kitchen and the broken window near the heater. "What happened?"

"Oh Peter- we- we got broken into." May said between sobs, falling limp in Peter's arms as he held her upright. "T-the door was open when I got home a-and…I just _knew._ "

"May it's alright, it'll be alright, please calm down." Peter said, rubbing her back with his hand, trying to think of what to do. "I'll make you a coffee okay? Then we can look at everything and I'll call the police."

May sniffled but nodded and let Peter help her to the couch before he made a coffee and hot chocolate, then called the police. It was no surprise, half an hour later, when another car pulled up beside the police car that was already parked outside their building.

"Sir you can't-" An officer outside the building began to say but was shoved aside by Clint, to let Tony walk past and the two of them walked up to Peter's apartment. "Sir!" Another car pulled up beside Tony's, and out stepped Agent Coulson who also walked up to the apartment, to find Tony and Clint.

"Peter! May!" Tony called out, shoving his way into the apartment. "Are you okay?" Tony asked when he found May on the couch. He sat beside her and let her hug him, letting her squeeze him until she felt better. "Where's Peter?"

"I'm he- Mister Stark?" Peter asked, coming out from his bedroom; luckily all of his spiderman stuff had been moved to the tower the week before while they did some suit tweaks. "What are you doing here?"

"You texted me to say you couldn't come to movie night because your house got burgled! Why do you think I'm here?!" Tony asked, jumping to his feet and walking over to peter, to wrap his arms around the kid.

"Mister Stark, Agent Barton." Phil called from the doorway where he was standing, not quite inside the apartment.

"S-sorry, who are y-you?" May asked between sniffles.

"Agent Coulson of SHIELD ma'am, I'm here to touch base with two of the Avengers. No drama for yourself." Phil said, nodding at her.

"Agent, not the best ti-"

"Fury wanted me to find out why two members of the team were ignoring an active Avengers call. The rest of your team wouldn't tell me. I'll tell Fury that there's a good reason and for him to leave you alone." Phil said, nodded and stepping back, leaving the apartment to head back to base. He wasn't going to try and pry Tony Stark away from that kid and judging by the look on Barton's face, prying away his actual SHIELD agent was also a lost cause.

Half an hour later, the police had left the apartment; Tony was glad they were gone, they weren't helping much. Tony had called Pepper from the rooftop of the apartment, for advice, and she had immediately told him that May could sleep at her place in the spare room, so she had someone close by during the night. Peter could stay where he felt most comfortable. Tony helped Peter and May pack what they needed for the night and got a car to take May to Pepper's place; Pepper said she would leave work early so she was home to greet May at the apartment.

"Tony, you there?" Steve came over the communicator when Tony was driving Peter back to the tower.

"Sure am Captain, what do you need?"

"Sorry, I know you're busy with something important. We managed to salvage some of the weapons these guys had, did you want us to bring some back for you to look? Some kind of…energy based guns?"

"They sound awesome, definitely, we're on our back now."

"Did you want to stop by and have a look before we move them? I'm not sure what would be the best way to transport them."

"Sure thing, we'll reroute and stop near your location. See you soon."

There were already a few cars in the small parking area Tony found but there were a few spots left so they parked the car and went to find Steve and the weapons. While Tony was busy talking to Steve and the SHIELD agents that had come to help check over the scene, Peter wandered off to find the others. Natasha was the first one he found, talking to a SHIELD agent; a man in his early thirties with greasy hair and facial hair that didn't look very good on him. Even though Peter was still a little distance away he could easily see the man grab Natasha's arm when she went to walk past him and he could hear the man talking, even though it was a whisper.

"You think Barton had any other reason to bring you back? He's disappointed you weren't easy and gave up, deciding it wasn't worth the effort. So what, he wasn't good enough? Let yourself get passed around SHIELD instead, now the Avengers? You're not an actual avenger; you're the team bonding activity. Waiting for Stark's intern to age up, or are you ignoring his age?" The man asked, too close to Natasha to be good, even if you couldn't hear what he was saying. Peter was ready to interfere but something caught his eye; a woman ducking under the police tape and running out into the scene, checking under the tarps that were on the ground. Three tarps, each one a dark blue, were laying over the ground.

"Uhhh- Miss Romanoff?" Peter asked when he was closer to the two. "Sorry to-"

"Peter! It's not a problem, what did you need?" She asked, ripping her arm away from the man and smiling at Peter.

"Just…um, should that lady be out there?" He pointed at the lady who was finished with the tarps and was heading back towards the police tape.

"Who the hell let her in?" The SHIELD man shouted, which caught the woman's attention; she turned to look at the man but shrugged and looked back at the barrier tape as she ducked under it. "I want her detained! Who knows what she got photos of? Miss Romanoff, perhaps your _partner,_ could help."

"Mister Barton? I'll get him!" Peter said cheerfully but he saw Clint near the barrier, already having seen the woman. He closed his eyes for a moment, took a deep breath and walked in the other direction, waving for Peter to follow him. "Oh there he is! I'll go tell him."

Clint headed to a building nearby and climbed up the fire escape to the rooftop, letting Peter follow after him. Clint found a spot near the edge of the roof and readied an arrow, pulling the string back and taking aim off into the distance.

"What are you aiming at?" Peter asked, sitting on the edge of the roof near Clint's feet, swinging his legs back and forth in the free air.

"Woman and man on that roof with the dentist sign." Clint said without looking away, watching as the woman raised a cigarette to her mouth and sucked in a breath. "You know kid; we don't just put up with you for Tony's sake."

"Wha-" Peter stopped talking when Clint let the string go, sending the arrow shooting across the street below them. "You'll hit them!"

The woman laughed at something the man had said as she raised her hand again, holding the cigarette between her lips and lowering her hand again, a second before the arrow flew past and knocked the cigarette from her face, sending it falling to the ground. The two people jumped but immediately looked in Clint's direction, glaring once they found the man. Clint lowered his bow and waved at them, grinning. The man eventually smiled and waved back; the woman slapped him on the shoulder and the two left their field of view, heading to a doorway in the corner of the roof.

"Who were they?" Peter asked once they were on the ground.

"A couple we haven't run into in forever, they're actually pretty normal. He's an accountant actually, she does some stuff with a morgue…I think." Clint said, shrugging.

"Peter!" Tony shouted, waving to the two of them. "Come here, I want you to eavesdrop on what this guy is saying to Natasha, she's been avoiding him since we got here but he is very…persistent."

Peter stood nearby the man and Natasha, chatting to Tony about internship projects, making sure he stayed focused on the SHIELD man's voice.

"It's a surprise actually, Tony Stark could have _anyone_ he'd like, so why does he keep you around? Unless you're a play thing for the gods, something to keep Loki in line, keep him distracted. What better than a murderous _whore."_

"Miss Romanoff?!" Peter called out, waving when she turned to look at him; Tony could've sworn her eyes looked red. "Do you wanna come for movie night? We're leaving in a minute."

She gave a quick nod and joined them, deciding to ride back with Clint and Steve to the tower.

"What'd he say?" Tony asked once he was in the car with Peter.

"I heard him…earlier. He was…talking about Miss Romanoff being…passed around the team-"

"What the ever loving fuck!?" Tony shouted, smacking his palm against the steering wheel.

"He asked if she was waiting for me to get older…and said you kept her around to keep Loki busy-"

"You can stop talking now."

"Oh thank _god._ "

After the movie, Tony went to find Steve in the gym.

"Evening Tony, still awake? Where's the kid?" Steve asked, grabbing a towel from the floor.

"Asleep upstairs, finally. I wanted to come talk to you about something."

"…Alright…"

"Some SHIELD guy today called Natasha a whore."

"… _What?"_

"Yep. Peter overheard him."

"…Okay."

"What do we do, Captain?"

"Call Coulson. Find out who the guy is. We talk to Clint; he'll want to know. He might have an idea why the guy has an issue with her."

"Okay, and then…"

"Make his life _hell."_

Over the next few days, they spoke to Coulson and Clint, explaining what had happened. Of course Loki happened to walk into the lounge with Thor when Tony was explaining what the guy had said about Loki to Natasha.

"…Excuse me?" Loki asked, raising his eyebrows at what Tony had said.

"…You've got the worst timing ever, where the fuck have you two bee- are you bleeding?!" Tony shouted, seeing that Thor was actually supporting Loki and the dark haired god had a tear in his shirt, revealing a rather long gash in his chest. "Steeeeeeevvvee!"

"Coming, I have Bruce!" Steve called from the kitchen, where he had been busy making bread rolls with Bruce. They had tried making hot cross buns originally, sparked by a comment from Natasha but it hadn't worked so well, so they decided to go for more basic bread.

"What's happened?" Bruce asked once he was with the group. "What did that?"

"We…Thor let _go…_ thank you." Loki groaned once he was sitting on the couch; Clint and Bucky moved to make room for him. "We were…attempting to revive the bifrost's connection to Earth, to see if we could…return to Asgard to find some medicine for some of our people…sadly, it did not go as planned."

"Loki was wounded by a stray shard of the bifrost's glass frame that had been floating in space. They are not large pieces, as they were only there to support the bifrost if we were moving larger creatures or treasures to the city…the framework was broken when Asgard was destroyed." Thor explained while Bruce examined the wound.

"What's the medicine for?" Bruce asked without looking away from the injury on Loki's chest.

"Some of our people are…not taking the air well, it would seem. We are unsure of the true cause but many of them have become ill; nausea, head pains – I think young Peter called them a headache once- and various other symptoms. Chest pain seems to be quite common." Loki said, wincing as Bruce applied some betadine to the wound and removed the majority of the blood away, so eh could check for glass easier.

"Maybe we should fly out. What do you think, Tony? It could be the water, something so simple, but if they aren't used to earth minerals their systems may not be taking it well." Bruce said, glancing at Tony who was frowning; it was his thinking face.

"Not a bad idea…we could do soil samples as well, even some samples from plant life in the area, make sure nothing is causing a reaction. Chest pain could be the lungs, maybe something respiratory?"

"Could be, I would have thought Asgardian systems could take anything but...they are in a foreign place now."

"Thank you friends; you are all welcome to come visit if you like." Thor said, beaming, as if someone had lifted a weight off of his shoulder. "What were you discussing, when we arrived?"

"Yes please, do tell." Loki drawled, accepting a glass of water from Clint.

Tony sighed but explained what Peter had overheard the man say to Natasha.

"I vote we leave him to the Doctor." Clint said loudly as he made coffees for everyone – plus a tea for Bruce.

"…Your Doctor?" Loki asked, looking at Bruce curiously.

"No! Not me." Bruce said, waving his hands in front of himself. "Definitely not."

"Does she even like Natasha?" Tony asked.

"Honestly?" Clint asked, handing drinks out to everyone. "Not a clue. I feel like she'd say yes just to send a message to SHIELD."

"Another one, you mean."

"Well, yeah."

"Mr. Barnes, could I ask- oh, everyone's here. Okay." Peter said, coming into the lounge, coming to a stop when he saw the crowd of people.

"Ah, the spiderling is still here." Loki said, placing the empty glass onto the coffee table.

"What's up kid?" Bucky asked from where he was leaning against the couch.

"Ummm…May was…I have to go on some school trip for a few days, some overnight thing and…May was wondering if someone would…stay at the apa-"

"Yeah." Bucky said without hesitation.

"…Really?"

"Course kid, I can head over whenever you need."

"I leave tomorrow morning…she'll um, be at work when I leave…"

"I'll come over early enough that you're still there then, don't worry about it."

Peter gave a slightly bewildered nod and left the room. Bruce finished checking over Loki and was finally convinced that there were no other wounds to worry about. They finished their meeting and Tony arranged a fresh set of bedding on one of the guest beds for Loki and had the sheets in Thor's room changed, since it'd been a while since he had stayed in the tower overnight.

The next morning, Tony drove a quiet Bucky to Peter and May's apartment for the second time.

"Barnes-"

"I'm not gonna start anything, Stark." Bucky said, grabbing his bag from the backseat of the car and slamming the door. "I know she's important, relax."

"That's not…I was just gonna say thanks, for doing this for Peter. Something happen?"

"No, nothing just…bad dreams again." Bucky said, shrugging and closing the front door of the car. He gave a quick wave to Tony before walking into the building and up to the apartment. He knocked on the door and waited for a moment, hearing footsteps approach before it was flung open by an excited looking Peter.

"Morning Mister Barnes! Come in, I'm just about to go. Is Mister Stark still outside? He said he'd drive me and Ned to the hotel instead of us catching the bus." Peter rambled as Bucky stepped inside and looked around; it looked…clean, but sparse. He had been told about the robbery but not much about what was taken or possibly taken. Some bits of furniture were damaged, and a vase he remembered from last time was no longer on the dining table, likely smashed during the break in.

"Yeah he's still downstairs, or was when I walked up anyway."

"Oh good, I shouldn't keep him waiting too long. May got called in for an emergency at work so the plan didn't seem to matter anyway, sorry for dragging you here so early in the morning."

"It's fin-"

"She won't tell me but I heard her on the phone to a coworker. She's taking a bunch of extra shifts when they get offered so she can save up to replace the things that got broken. All the little things you know, like some baking dishes and her vase. I think some of her makeup was stolen, she had a fancy set she got given from work one year as a bonus thing, won it in a raffle." Peter continued to ramble, which made Bucky laugh, which made Peter stop and stare at Bucky, confused. "What?"

"I just…either you're terrified of us or it's like we're best friends. It's very confusing. Kinda fun though."

"…It's kind of confusing for me too, to be honest. May said she'd grab takeaway on her way back, I told her you liked that noodle place we went to last week. Does Winter like it? I don't know if she's met Winter yet. That'll be interesting, alright, gotta go, bye!"

Peter grabbed his bag and darted out the front door, thundering down the main steps as he excitedly ran to the car waiting for him, leaving Bucky alone in the apartment. What was he meant to do now? The apartment was a little cold, which he was okay with for the time being. He settled for laying on the couch and trying to get some more sleep, since his rest the night before had been so tiresome. He was woken later that day by the front door creaking open and closing, then a polite "Hello!" greeted him. He groaned and forced his eyes open to see Peter's aunt placing some shopping bags onto the kitchen counter.

"Sorry, didn't sleep very well last night. Thought I'd catch up." Bucky explained, sitting up on the couch.

"Oh it's alright dear. I meant to leave a note but this morning was such a mad rush I totally forgot. You're welcome to use my bed, or Peter's, he said it wasn't an issue. I won't have a guest feeling like they have to use the couch." She said as she dished out the takeaway she had gotten for them.

"It's really no proble-"

"Nonsense, here you go darling." She handed a plate full of food to Bucky then returned to the kitchen and got herself a plate and sat at the dining table to eat. "Thank you for agreeing to this. I've never minded being on my own before but…now…"

"It's fine, really. Steve's mum had the same thing once, back when we were kids. Someone came and graffitied their house. Typical irish are trash nonsense that got thrown around then…I stayed with them for a few days, my Ma wasn't super happy about it at the time but…I know she was glad I did it. She knew Steve was important to me, she was good like that."

"She sounds lovely." May said, smiling at Bucky.

"Umm…Peter raised a point I hadn't…really thought of, kind of ignored it. About the Winter-"

"Peter explained it sweetheart, don't worry about it. It's only for a few days, we'll be fine."

The two of them ate in silence; Bucky watched something on TV while May read over some papers for work, then went to have a shower before settling down for bed. Bucky insisted he sleep on the couch but after tossing and turning, trying to get comfortable, he ended up conceding to trying to lay in Peter's bed. Peter's room was…oddly nice; it was dark, especially if Bucky closed the curtains and the window let a nice breeze in. The bed was a tad too small but was far more comfortable than the couch had been. Bucky eye's moved across the room while he waited to fall asleep. He could just see the bookshelf, overflowing with different books and mountains of books on the floor as well, as well as what looked like stuff for electrical work. There was a picture on the wall of a woman who looked like May with a man her age, with a young boy between them. Bucky saw something on the floor glint when a breeze blew the curtain away for a moment, letting some light in and catching whatever was on the floor.

Bucky leant down and grabbed whatever it was and laid back down, looking over the small plastic bag of metal razor blades. He was curious as to why peter would have them, the only thing that crossed his mind was a song he had heard on the radio late one night when he couldn't sleep, about how people could dull their pain with the little metal things. Bucky…wasn't concerned, or worried but…the thought was there, swimming around his head. Peter had been through a lot, was it possible he would hurt himself? He knew men in the army who had done it, years ago, during the worst nights.

He was brought out of his thoughts by a crash in the living room and bolted to his feet, rushing into the lounge to find May standing with her arms wrapped around herself, a broken cup at her feet.

"I-I…I thought I saw…Oh I'm so sorry, I'm imagining things…" She whispered, shaking.

"It's fine, it's what I'm here for." Bucky said gently, wanting to be as reassuring as he could. He had promised Peter he would keep an eye on his aunt, so he'd do his best.


	53. Chapter 53 - The Red Room Extended

**Chapter 53**

 **The Red Room Extended**

 _Brief mention of sex slavery! Be warned!_

It was on the third night that Bucky was woken up again by crashing from the lounge and he was ready to dismiss it, when he heard May scream.

"God make her _shut up!_ " A man's voice came from the lounge as Bucky slowly opened the door to Peter's room. He heard what sounded like a hand slapping skin, and a soft gasp. He pressed the little warning button on his earpiece, to alert the others, then he moved out of the room and into the lounge, careful not to make any noise. He moved to the side and opened the two windows nearby, before slowly moving towards the front door, which was wide open; a quick glance into the hallway revealed that there was no one waiting outside.

He waited as one of the two men in the kitchen left to go towards May's room, then he raised his pistol and quickly fired once into the remaining's man's leg, sending the men dropping to the floor.

"Hallway." He told May, who nodded and ran outside, where she stood and shook, trying to hold herself with her arms.

"Issue downtown, I've got Clint and Loki on their way to you, I think Coulson as well." Tony came over the earpiece. "I have no idea why Coulson is going."

"Good, I'll keep an eye on these two." Bucky said as the other man raced out, and was quickly knocked to his feet by a bullet to his lower leg. A few moments later there was movement and voices in the hallway; the others had arrived.

"Police are here." Clint said into the room. Bucky lowered his weapon and let out a breath he'd been holding since the first shot. "We've got May outside; I'll send the officers up to you."

Clint headed downstairs, finding the officers and letting them know they could head up to the apartment. Clint saw Loki and gave a quick nod to the man.

"Only people hurt are the ones who broke in." Clint said.

"She was struck across the face but besides that, physically she is unharmed." Loki said.

"Thank god." Clint said, glad it hadn't been worse than it was.

"Yes, we are luck-" Loki cut himself off, ending mid sentence and jumping ahead towards Clint, pushing the man aside and throwing out a handful of green light, which threw the person who had been falling towards Clint into Coulson's car with a loud thud.

"What the shit was that?!" Clint shouted, looking at the huge dent in the side of the car.

"Barton, what did you do to my car?" Phil asked, stepping out from the apartment building.

"I didn't do it! Why am I always the first suspect?!"

"Would you like an answer?"

" _...No."_

"My apologies, I attacked quickly to prevent this…person, form attacking Agent Barton from above." Loki said, adjusting his coat.

"From abo- oh for the love of mother." Phil said, sighing when he saw the young girl leaning back against dented car.

"Barton, you suck." A man said from the apartment building doorway, where he was sitting on the small step out front. "She had my last cigarette."

"I told the both of you that smoking would kill you. What do you want?"

"We were the distraction." The man said, shrugging.

"…She's inside, isn't she?"

"Coulson, take her into custody." The SHIELD agent from the other day said, stepping out into the street, dragging the woman from the rooftop behind him by her arm. "She's interfering with an investigation, as well having been on SHIELD property during the event the other day."

"God you're a pain in the ass. I'm here for something else, not whatever these guys are up to- ow!" She said, shouting when the man tightened his grip on her arm.

"Ah, Agent Robertson. It's good to see you." Phil said, helping the young girl to her feet. Her hair was shoulder length and curly and incredibly red; it reminded Loki of The Black Widow.

"Thanks Mister Coulson." The girl said softly, looking at the ground between her feet. "Can you tell Mister Barton I'm sorry?"

"I'll do one better, we can go get pancakes if you want." Phi said, rubbing her shoulder gently. She grinned, wide and bright at him before looking at who they now knew to be Agent Robertson.

"Barton, are you going to tell Stark I attacked a child?" Loki asked, glancing at Clint, who was smiling.

"You know it. You also get to tell him that he has to buy Phil a new car."

"Great."

"Robertson, leave her with me, I'll take this car back to headquarters and file a report. I'll take the others as well."

"You guys got showers?" The man asked, standing up slowly.

"Yes, get in." Phil said, pointing at the now dented car.

The man gave a quick nod to Clint and Loki, before walking over to the car and climbing into the back seat and closing the door behind him. Roberston walked the woman over and waited as she climbed into the car as well and slammed the door shut after her. He turned and walked back towards Coulson, who was speaking to the young girl, who seemed distracted by something to her side. She was glancing at Loki every now and then, careful not to look when he could see her doing so.

"You can show him if you want, we've got time." Coulson said, assuring her of something. She gave a quick nod and turned slowly, then walked over to Loki and Clint. Loki didn't notice her until she was tugging on his coat sleeve to get his attention.

"Mister Loki?" Her quiet voice said and he looked down at her. "Mister Coulson said you can do magic…"

"He is correct."

"So can I!"

"Is that so?"

"Yeah! Can I show you?"

"…I suppose."

"Okay, watch closely." She said, pulling a small gold coin from her pocket and holding it on the flat of her palm, then waved her other hand over the top, to reveal that the coin was no longer there. She looked up at Loki, nervous but excited.

"That is very good, you must've practiced a lot." Loki said, not quite harsh but not overly friendly. "I like your hair, it's very bright."

"Really? I got it done last week." She said, smiling.

"I told you it looked good." Phil said; the car doors were open and the backseat was empty. Phil looked over and stared at the car. "Oh dear, they've escaped."

"Yes, may I look at it closer?" Loki asked, crouching down so he was her height, she nodded happily and spun around, so he could look at the back of her head and all of the very red curls. "Yes it's very nice, Coulson is right. It reminds me of Lady Natasha."

Clint noticed the pinched look on Robertson's face when the girl turned around and squealed.

"Really?!"

"Definitely, if you were a little taller I would almost mistake you for her."

"How'd it go?" Clint asked, seeing the police coming out of the building, the two men cuffed and being lead to the police cars nearby. Bucky was standing in the doorway, May hovering near him.

"We'll get them to the station and start the rest of the process, we've got Mister Stark as the first point of contact, so we will contact him as soon as we're ready." An officer said before saying farewell and leaving with the other officers.

"Coulson, what are you playing at?! How did they get out?!" Robertson shouted, seeing the empty car.

"I believe they might have used their hands; I didn't realize they could use handles, how foolish of me. Pancakes?"

The girl grinned and skipped over to the car, then climbed into the front passenger seat and waited, fiddling with the radio and seatbelts and lights and whatever else she could reach.

"You're trying to cross a line Robertson." Phil said once the girl was out of earshot.

"Oh am I? By questioning Fury's ass kisser?"

"By going after someone who is off grid."

"It's our job!"

"It's your job to avoid a repeat of Paris."

"She's a danger!"

"She had been inactive with zero sightings for months before she was seen recently. She was removed from the area by the Avengers. That is enough."

"Coulson you-"

"Oh hang on, I recognize you." Bucky said, cutting the man off. "You the guy who called Natasha a whore?"

"What?!" May shouted, appalled. "How dare you!"

"Ma'am-"

"Don't you dare ma'am me! I have met Miss Romanoff and she was _exceptionally_ kind, far more than yourself! I saw the look on your face when he said the young girl looked like her. I can't imagine you would be stupid enough to make a comment here, surely. I need a shower and a coffee, thank you all for your help this evening." She said, nodding her head and stepping back into the apartment building, Bucky following after her.

"Damn. Coulson, can she be an Avenger?"

"Can she keep Stark in line?"

"He's terrified of her."

"Perfect." Coulson said giving them a quick nod before climbing into the driver's seat of his car and pulling away into the street.

"Would you like to call a car, to return home?" Loki asked, once he was alone again with Clint.

"I suppose so, ugh, it's so late too. A car's gonna take ages to get here." Clint whined, pulling his phone out.

"…Would you rather I teleport us?"

"…No…but I also don't want to wait for a car." Clint said, trying to pick which he preferred. There wasn't much time to think since Loki reached out and grabbed his arm and everything went dark, and a little cold, then they were standing in the lounge back at the tower.

"What the-" Tony shouted, dropping his coffee cup to the ground when he grabbed the dining table to stop himself falling backwards. "What the fuck?!"

"Hey Tony!" Clint said, smiling.

"…Barton, did you fucking _teleport?"_ Tony asked, then noticed Loki. "Did you let _Loki_ teleport you?"

"Yep, I gotta go, I'm definitely gonna throw up." Clint said and rushed off to his bedroom, letting the door close loudly behind him.

"Well. That certainly wasn't what I was expecting." Tony said, looking down at his new broken coffee cup. "Dammit."

"Next time you see Barton, ask to see his footage from outside of young Peter's apartment building from this evening." Loki said, pulling his coat off and throwing it to the side, where it disappeared into nothing in the air.

"…Why?"

"You will enjoy the footage, I believe." Loki said and headed to the room that had been prepared for him.

The next morning, everyone was gathered in the lounge to watch the footage; Clint insisted everyone be there, even Natasha herself.

"Holy shit, go May!" Tony shouted at the screen, while Steve and Bucky burst into laughter.

"I asked Coulson if she could be Avenger, he didn't say no." Clint said, grinning.

"…You knew what he said?" Natasha asked the group.

"Peter overheard." Tony said, replaying the footage. "Clint's idea was to tell The Doctor about it."

"Bad idea." Natasha said, smiling weakly at the thought.

"So she wouldn't defend your honor?"

"An excuse to go after a SHIELD agent? She'd jump on it in seconds." Natasha said, smiling wider this time. "We never know what she thinks about people."

"She seems to like Peter." Steve said.

"I don't know if I'm happy about it or not." Tony said, turning the TV off and looking over at Steve. "Coulson managed to track down the weird suit lady."

Clint and Natasha wondered off into the kitchen to make coffees and tea for everyone, listening in on the conversation.

"Did she take the gift?" Steve asked.

"Yeah. Not sure if it'll ever be used but, hopefully she appreciated the thought."

"I reckon she did, she's like that." Clint said, joining the group again and passing a cup of tea to Bruce, keeping his own cup of coffee in in his other hand. Natasha joined again as well and handed out coffees to the others.

"Barton, I have a question." Loki said, when he entered the room with Thor beside him.

"Go ahead."

"The red headed girl from yesterday, how old is she?"

"Like…fifteen? I think. Why?"

"She is small for her age. She also does not behave in a way I would have expected someone her age to. The people she was with do not seem to be doing a good job of watching her. Also, the man she was with wasn't wearing any shoes, which I found odd. Oh, thank you." Loki said, accepting a mug of peppermint tea from Natasha.

"She…" Natasha began, lowering herself into an armchair. She tucked a strand of her behind her ear and kept her eyes on the ground.

"Nat-" Natasha cut Clint off with a shake of her head.

"She was…part of a branch of the Red Room. It was abandoned a few years after it was opened. Didn't go the way it was planned so they gave up on it. It was…similar, to my branch but less focused on…murder. It was…the girls were trained from the age of five, that they would be…objects. The plan was to give them to criminals in prison, to keep them distracted, or as a reward for assassins who pulled of particularly hard jobs." She said, sipping on her coffee while she thought for a moment. "The branch was well hidden, as it would want to be. SHIELD couldn't ignore a branch of people training children to be sex slaves."

"When I say the project was abandoned, I mean it in a very literal sense. The girls were put to bed one night and woke the night morning with the power cut off, no running water and every single trainer or person who had worked with them until then, just gone."

"How many girls?" Steve asked.

"Total bed count was twenty but they had eighteen girls at the time they ended the project."

"How did you meet her?"

"By accident. Fury gave me and Clint the task of finding some…base, near where the project was held; at the time we didn't know about the project. It began shortly before I left. We broke into the wrong base, found a group of girls huddled into a corner, starving and about to drop from dehydration."

"Skip, the red headed girl was in the front of the huddle." Clint took over the story. "She was the oldest one there by a couple of years so had sort of become their caregiver. Finding bottles of water that they could drink, trying to find a way to restore the lights. They'd been in the dark for almost two weeks before we stumbled in like idiots. She was also very, very protective of the group, which was pretty understandable once we realized what the hell was going on."

"We asked them where the adults were." Natasha said, gripping her coffee mug as tight as he could with her hands shaking.

"That little girl stared at me, and without blinking all she said was "They've left us." Clint said and Natasha let out a sob.

"But…why act like a kid?" Tony asked, frowning.

"It's only around SHIELD, actually. Apparently the SHIELD therapist said a bunch of mumbo jumbo about de-ageing and age play to help with processing what'd happened to her. Maybe it's on purpose or maybe it's so SHIELD will leave her alone, we don't know." Clint shrugged. "She's shy as all hell, nice enough kid though."

"Do you know who was running the project branch?" Bucky asked.

"Got a couple of names but they've vanished, hard to follow up people if we don't even know if they're alive." Natasha said, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.

"…I need a breather." Tony said and abruptly left the room, heading to the garage. He didn't really pay attention to which car he drove out and took off along the street in, he just needed to not think about…what they'd been discussing. Something about the fact it had made Natasha visibly _sob_ was enough for him, so he blasted the music in his car loud enough that it hurt his ears and he drove, finding long stretches of road eventually that he could race down, without the danger of hitting another car.

The empty road was a little eerie but the sudden pair of headlights that appeared in his rear view mirror, incredibly close to his car, was a little more worrying. Something exploded and his car swerved to the right, leaving the road and hitting an embankment. The driver side door was yanked open, and hands grabbed his arms, pulling him out. He opened his mouth to shout but it meant that whatever gas they sprayed on him, was easily sucked down into his lungs. He blinked a few times, then everything went dark.


	54. Chapter 54 - Team Us

**Chapter 54**

 **Team Us**

"Is he awake yet?" A voice asked, pulling Tony out of the weird slumber he was in.

 _I'm awake…_

He could think the words but couldn't force his mouth to make the sounds.

 _I'm awake!_

"It is no matter, when she is returned to the room he will understand."

"Indeed."

Footsteps and a loud metallic noise told him that the people were moving away, so he forced his eyes open, to reveal total darkness. He felt around and found that the floor he was laying on was made of dirt, while the walls were metal. He heard something metallic creak and quickly laid back down, pretending to be out of it still, just before the door flew open and let a beam of light into the room. Tony kept his eyes shut but he could hear scuffling, then a groan, then something hitting the dirt floor. The door closed again, leaving him in darkness for a second time.

He reached out and realized the dirt was…wet, in patches. It hadn't been wet moments ago. Tony opened his eyes but it took a few minutes for them to adjust, so that he could see the person laying on their side in the dirt, water soaking into the ground from their clothes. Some time passed, with Tony just staring at the person, unsure what to do; he was dragged from his thoughts when the door swung open again. Two men stepped inside; one grabbed Tony and yanked him to his feet and pulled him out of the room, while the other man grabbed the person who was on the floor.

They were dragged in opposite directions down a long white hallway, where Tony was half dragged half pushed into another room, where a man was waiting at a table, a seat opposite him, which Tony was pushed into.

"Welcome, Mister Stark." The man said.

"…Not feeling the warmth in the welcome, but sure."

"I will be straight forward with you, Mister Stark. We need you to build something for us. If you refuse, you will be killed. It will not be quick, we will have our fun but you _will_ die, eventually."

"I look forward to it."

"Ah, so you refuse to build?"

"…Yeah, I usually do that."

The man frowned for a moment then let his face relax again.

"I was hoping one of you would be reasonable. Very well. You will be given a second, final chance to accept later." The man said and waved his hand, signaling the man from earlier to grab Tony again and drag him out to the hallway, to another room which was _a lot_ larger. It was a long, strange rectangular room which was empty, the only noticeable thing was the oval painted on the ground, stretching from end to end.

"Laps." The man gruffed and shoved Tony ahead a step.

"…I'm running laps?"

"Yes."

"How many?"

"Until you are told to stop."

Tony shrugged and began to…run laps. It was strange but a little relaxing; it let him think. Where the hell was he? Who were these guys? They weren't wearing HYDRA uniforms, at least he didn't recognize them as such. Time crept by and he kept running. He didn't know how much time had passed, and he'd lost count of how many laps he'd run. Eventually someone entered the room and shouted for him to stop.

 _Thank god._

He was taken back to the same room as earlier; nobody else was in it. He sat in silence, trying to catch his breath, waiting for someone to come back to the room. He'd realized how hungry he was during his laps and now he was actually starving.

He fell asleep waiting, and woke up the next morning when he was yanked from the ground and taken back to the room he'd spoken to the guy in earlier. The man was there again, sitting at the table with the seat across from him. The guy who'd dragged him here returned and placed a plate in front of Tony; a ham and cheese sandwich with a small pile of crisps on the side.

"Eat, Mister Stark, then you will run more laps." The man across from him said. Tony was pretty convinced the food must have been poisoned but, his stomach was stronger than his brain so he ate all of it. "You will wait five minutes for the food to settle, then you will do your laps."

Five minutes wasn't very long and once again Tony was running laps in that empty rectangular room. That's how the next few days passed; he'd wake up, eat something then wait five minutes, then go run laps until his feet stung. On the fifth morning, he woke up without being yanked from his sleeping place in the corner.

"…No laps? Oh thank _god."_ He said to himself, moaning as he stretched his legs out.

"You should've stretched afterwards; your legs wouldn't hurt so much." Someone said with a hoarse throat.

"Huh?" Tony opened his eyes, and after a moment, saw a figure sitting against the opposite wall. He blinked, taking in the short black hair and the deep cheekbones. "I think I'm going delusional from caffeine withdrawal but why am I hallucinating _you?"_

The woman didn't say anything, she just gave a weak laugh and stared at the ground in front of her; one of her arms was laying in her lap, limp and…sitting weirdly. She was also dripping wet.

"Wait…that was you? The other day?" Tony asked, staring at her. "On the ground…why are you wet- fuck."

"Stark-"

"Why are you wet?"

"You've probably got an idea why, just go with that."

"…Fuck. I'm sorry."

"What for? You didn't waterboard me."

"I should've known! I can't…I should've done something…have you even eaten? How long have we been here? I think it's been four days if they're making me eat the start of every day but I don't kno- what?"

"You done?"

"…I ramble when I'm nervous."

"Would me answering questions stop you rambling? It's annoying."

"Yes! Maybe, no promises."

She sighed and adjusted herself, groaning as she moved and wincing when she pushed her shoulder back into the wall by accident.

"Fuck…so, no I haven't eaten. I think you're right about the time frame but I'm not totally sure. Also, what the hell could you have done? You didn't know, so stop feeling guilty about it. It's _also_ annoying."

"I'm generally an annoying person, so I've been told."

"I mean; I wasn't going to say anything but…they're not wrong."

"What-"

The door was opened again, and the two men grabbed the woman and hauled her to her feet, ignoring how her arm was hanging limp at her side.

"Come Doctor, you have work to do. At least one of you has seen sense." One of the men said, smirking at her.

"Your idiot mechanic has gone loopy from caffeine withdrawal. May as well get rid of him now, he's useless like this." She said as she was lead from the room and the door closed after them.

The man who had spoken to Tony came to see her in the lab they had set up.

"What do you mean 'caffeine withdrawals?'" He demanded; he was standing in the doorway, the door sliding shut behind him. His arms were folded behind his back. He was a short man with a heavyset figure and a bald head. If she was shorter, perhaps he would have been imposing.

"Tony Stark lives on coffee, it's known worldwide due to media reports. If he hasn't had any since he got here, he's definitely going through withdrawals. He'll be moody, maybe aggressive and generally tired. Useless."

"How long would it take before he is surpassed this stage?'

"Maybe a week? Some people take longer." She shrugged, using her good arm to carefully scoop powders into containers that were on scales.

"And yourself?"

"I don't drink coffee. Prefer sweets."

"Very well." The man said, leaving the room. Perhaps coffee would get Stark in a more agreeable mood.

"What's this?" Tony asked once he was back at the table, another day must have gone by. The day of rest had been nice. In front of him was a plate of toast, fried eggs with a side of beans and a cup of black coffee next to the plate.

"Your breakfast, Mister Stark. No laps today, we only need you to begin building. Work will commence tomorrow, if you agree."

"Do I have to give an answer now?"

"Of course not, eat now, it can be discussed at a later time." The man said, smiling as Tony ate the breakfast and emptied the cup of coffee. They were kinder, walking him back to his room rather than dragging him.

"Welcome back." She said, grinning at him in the beam of light the door let in. He stepped into the room and the door closed behind him, slamming into place. She seemed to have dried out a bit though he knew that didn't mean anything; it didn't mean that it didn't happen to begin with.

"Can't say I'm happy to be back."

"What's wrong? Would you rather be with them than me? That's harsh, Stark."

"That's not what I- no, never mind. Have you been here the whole time I was gone?"

"I was brought back shortly after you left, I think."

They sat in silence for what was possibly a few hours; it could've been a whole day, he had no idea anymore.

"…I had coffee this morning." He said, unsure if he should be so glad to have had coffee. He was mostly saying it to confirm to himself it had happened, that this morning was different to the others. He needed to know that time was actually passing. Maybe it wasn't this morning, maybe it had been yesterday.

"Good. It means they want you to be agreeable with them. I told them you were likely going through caffeine withdrawal, so you would be more irritable then usual."

"You…wanted me to have coffee? To make me be _agreeable?_ I don't want to build-"

"I am not going to die here Stark. It might be in your Tower that I die, but it will be worth it. You will follow their blueprints and build exactly what the blueprints say, or I _will_ get out of here and I _will_ kill your intern."

"What?! You can't say that! He hasn't done anything to you!"

"Then build their fucking machine." She hissed, standing up as the door opened again. She left with one of the men, and the other one waited. Tony sighed and stood up, moving over to the machine.

"Alright, let's do this." He said and felt sick when the man simply grinned, and lead Tony down the hallway to a new room; a workshop. Tony spent a few hours reading over the blueprints he was given. They wanted him to build some kind of…aerating chamber. A liquid would be poured into the bottom and heated until it was steam, which would then be compressed and stored so that it could be used later, as an aerosol. The plans were messy and barely legible, Tony wasn't even sure if the contraption would work but he followed the plans and began construction the next day.

She was in the room already when he returned that night, which didn't surprise him. He was surprised by how quick she could move though, when the door slammed shut again. Something stabbed into his neck just as he shoved her back into the wall, which she crashed into and slid down to the ground again, dropping the small needle onto the dirt.

"What the hell are you doing?!" He shouted, rubbing at the skin on his neck.

"If they ask, I attacked you." She said, groaning.

"Well I wouldn't be lying!"

"They wouldn't believe you attacked me, so I pissed off a guard. Glad he didn't break my nose, that would've sucked."

"…What?"

"You'll be bruised to shit tomorrow, face and neck, it's fine."

"Why is it fine?!"

"…Just finish the machine. How much is left?"

"A few hours probably, it wasn't difficult once I managed to translate what gibberish they'd written down. It wasn't so much a set of blueprints as much as it was guideline for me to follow to make blueprints."

"How hot can it get?"

"They wanted it to be…around two hundred degrees at the most, in celcius, on the plans so…around three hundred and ninety Fahrenheit?"

"Perfect." She said, laying herself down on the dirt and closing her eyes. "How long does it take?"

"The test we did today took fifty-five seconds…on some...chemical, it wasn't water."

"No, it wasn't."

"Is that what you've been working on?"

"Sure is. End batch will be done in the morning."

Tony didn't really know what to ask. He didn't want to know what they had her creating. He didn't expect he'd like knowing, so he stayed quiet. Both of them eventually fell asleep, to drift off into strange fever dreams.

" _If you really cared, you'd be here!"_

 _Tony had never meant to to make Peter cry, he only…he was trying to be a good mentor. He hadn't meant to get attached. It was too late now, he thought, watching the news anchor read off the report about Spiderman being found at sea after the plane crash._

" _The questions are endless. The primary one seems to be "Who encouraged this teenager to put himself in danger?"_

"Wake up!" Someone shouted as the metal door slammed open. Tony scrambled from where he was laying and got to his feet, following the guards and the woman down to the work area. The men watched Tony finish the machine in silence. Once they were satisfied they shoved him to the side, into another room that was actually…a swimming room? There was a pool in the middle of the tiled room, which was strange. Tony suddenly felt _very_ near death.

She watched, arm hanging limp at her side as they poured the green liquid into the lower chamber of the machine, then shoved her into the other room with Stark.

"Edge of the pool." Someone said, and she stepped forward so that her toes were almost hanging over the edge. Tony copied her and watched the clear water; there was no current so it simply sat there, staring back at him. The water was incredibly clear, which surprised him for some reason.

"The test begins in three, two, one." A voice came over a speaker. Tony heard her whispering, counting down seconds. "Symptoms should show labored breathing, rashes on the skin followed by convulsions. Symptoms will last for approximately two minutes until death occurs."

"What the fuck do we do now? Oh my god…I am not dying here…" Tony shouted, stepping back. She reached out to catch his wrist and held tight with her good hand.

"Fifty-three…fifty-four…" She whispered then jumped forward. Tony wasn't expecting the pull, so he was easily dragged along after her, down into the water when he felt the air shake, and suddenly the air around him was hot, then cold and wet. She held the two of them beneath the water's surface for what felt like forever until she finally let go, and Tony managed to push himself back above the surface of the water and _breathe._ The air was…green? It was green and it stung his eyes and nose.

"What the…fuck?" He asked himself as he looked around and noticed a huge rectangular hole in the wall, where a window must have been. He hadn't even noticed it. Of course they would have been watching! Water splashed the side of his face when she surfaced a moment later.

"It fucking worked!" She shouted, grinning as she slowly swam to the edge of the pool. Tony followed and pulled himself out onto the edge so he could help her out, being careful of what he suspected was a broken arm, or possibly even the shoulder itself.

"What worked?!"

"The…chemical, I might've been…a little naughty and made it slightly stronger than they wanted."

"…So that it would fucking EXPLODE?!"

"It worked, didn't it?!"

"Holy shit, we're screwed." Tony said as the two of them walked back into the workshop and found the guards on the ground, laying still. He was glad he didn't have to see the convulsions. He couldn't handle that.

"You're immune, Stark." She said from behind him, exasperated by his panic.

"…Huh?"

"Why do you think I stabbed you with a needle? It's not a forever immunization but it'll get us out of here. Hopefully the explosion was strong enough that it could be registered outside by someone."

"Okay…okay…alright we just need to…" Tony had to focus. He was meant to be ideas guy. The fix it guy. He could fix this. "We need a communications room or something. We could patch ourselves into the Avengers communication feed, or at least SHIELD's, if we're desperate enough."

"Can't say I'll ever be _that_ desperate." She grumbled, stepping over a body as they walked along the hallway to find a room that looked right.

"Oh! That one looks good." Tony said, suddenly giddy at finding a room he could use to help them. He got to work on the equipment, trying to find the right signal. Thankfully it was all computerized so he didn't have to focus super hard and could just…work.

"Hellllooo…?" He said, more to himself, than anyone. He ignored the weird look she gave him from the swivel chair she'd sat herself in. He didn't need her judgment. "Come on…please…"

"-explosion registered south from your position. Report." A male voice said, and she let out a laugh.

"Is that Robertson?!" She asked, rolling her chair over to Tony. "Oh. Fuck. If that's…man I am so not being taken into custody by _him."_

"Hello?! Can you idiots hear me or-"

"Who is this?"

"Hi! This is Tony Stark."

"…"

"I'm near the big explosion. Mighty fine work, don't you think? Now can you come help me?"

"Hello?" A voice, female voice asked.

"Sorry, hello? Who is this? You're a new person, aren't you?"

"Yes sir, your radio feed was patched through to me. Are you in a location that's safe? I need you to stay on the line so we can follow your location."

"Oh um…are we safe?" He asked, glancing at the woman, who thought for a moment.

"We…hmm. We'll be fine for a few hours but I'm not sure if the SHIELD gear would be able to filter out the gas."

"Sir? Is there anyone else with you?"

"Yea- don't look at me like that. Yes, I'm with some scary lady called- wait, can Robertson hear me?"

There was a click then "Not anymore."

"Oh, I like you, you're good. The Doctor is with me; do you know who that is?"

A sigh.

"Yes, I am aware of who she is."

"She's…not in great shape. I might not be either soon judging by how she's looking at me but she _needs_ medical. I think her shoulder or…something is broken. She can't raise one of her arms. She also really doesn't want to be, like, arrested. Also she hasn't eaten like at all since we got here...however long ago."

"Mister Stark, are you okay for me to talk?"

"Oh- sorry! Yeah um-"

"It's fine sir, I understand. I am able to contact Agent Coulson through the SHIELD network and if he approves, I can have a 'do not hold' in place for the Doctor. I imagine neither of you much like SHIELD medical so, have you got anyone you'd be okay with doing your check over?"

"Dr Banner."

"Of course, I will have Agent Coulson contact him directly. I will also send through orders that SHIELD personnel are _not_ to interact with the Doctor, and that only members of your own team are to interact with her if she allows it."

"You're the best."

"A review would be appreciated, sir, the bonus money is always handy. Now, we've got your location.. Do you believe it safe for our Agents to enter?"

"Umm…hang on." Tony pushed the microphone across the bench top to her hand and gestured at it.

"Ugh, really Stark? Alright, then, no. They shouldn't enter. The gas hasn't been tested against any form of filtering system so we've got no way of knowing if SHIELD gear can handle it. The top of the facility is flat, we can get up there through some fire escape hatches, we'll wait on the roof for your team."

"Alright Ma'am, we'll be there shortly."

"Alrigh- no, Stark, I am not wearing an earpiece. Where did you even get that?" She turned the microphone off so she could focus on glaring at the man who was holding a small black ear piece out to her.

"Come oooooon, be part of the team!"

"What team?"

"Team us!" he said, grinning at her.

"…I need to get the fuck out of here before I go mad." She said, getting up from the swivel chair and leaving the room, with him following after her. The fire escapes weren't far, and Tony went up first so he could help pull her up, since the ladders weren't very long. They were shorter ladders, with a small landing after each one. There were about eight of them all together, with a metal hatch hatch in the ceiling above the last one.

"Any chance of us opening this?" Tony asked, looking at the number pad on the wall near them. "Got any ideas?"

"None from me, I'm afraid." She was leaning against the wall, clutching her injured arm close to her body. Tony realized just how…weak, she was looking. She had been pale, every time he'd seen her before this place but now it was simply the paleness from being sick.

"-ello?" A voice came from the ear piece Tony had been wearing; he'd found it on a bench in the room with a few others, and quickly connected them to the communication line he'd set up in the room. "No response yet, I'll try again when we're inside the building, we've just landed."

Tony knew that voice, so he laughed, loudly.

"Holy shit, Steve?!"

"Wait!" Steve called out to someone. "Tony, is that you?"

"Yes! Yes, yes, yes. Holy shit Steve, where the hell are you?"

"On the…roof, we think. Big flat area made of concrete. Where are you?"

"We're in the fire escape…ladder...tunnel thing. There's some sort of metal hatch we need a code to open, so we're a little stuck."

"Tony, who else is with you?"

"What?"

"You said 'we're a little stuck' not 'I'm a little stuck'. Is someone with you?"

"Did SHIELD not tell you?"

"We haven't heard from them. Friday discovered the readings, from what we guessed was an explosion. Looked pretty powerful."

"Yeah…can you get us out first, I'm fine but the other person needs medical."

"Right- oh, we can see a metal…plate looking thing in the ground."

"Okay- wait! You can't…come in, the place is full of gas."

"Are you okay? How long have you been exposed to it?"

"Long story but, I'm fine at the moment."

"Alright, give us a moment. Can you get yourselves a little lower?"

"We can try." Tony said, and looked at her. "Can you crouch?"

She nodded and lowered herself by sliding down the wall, till she was sitting.

"Wait, have you had any water since we've been here?" She raised an eyebrow at him, and he instantly felt like the biggest jerk ever. "I didn't mean- if they weren't feeding you I was just thinking-"

"Just food Stark, I had water." She said. The voice was weak and she had no energy left for there to be any venom to her words.

Something struck the metal hatch and screeched; something metallic had hit the little trap door. _The shield._ Holy shit, they had actually found them. They were actually getting out of here. The metal screeched again, as something pushed against it, then it was suddenly ripped away; the metal was torn away from it's concrete housing. Once the dust had stopped falling, Tony looked up to see Spiderman looking back down at him.

"Hey."

Tony closed his eyes, letting the back of his head rest against the wall. He'd kill them for letting the kid come but holy shit, it was good to hear that voice.


	55. Chapter 55 - A Bold Rescue

**Chapter 55**

 **A Bold Rescue**

Spiderman dropped down into the hole he'd just created and landed gently on the concrete landing; it was small, barely big enough for the three of them to stand.

"Her first, be careful of her arm." Tony said, watching as the masked hero nodded. "If SHIELD tries to go near her, stop them."

"Cool."

She let the suited hero get her off the floor, and let him web the edge of the hole he'd opened up, so he could carry her up without jumping. It was slow but eventually he let her down on the roof and watched Tony climb out of the hole. The man frowned at the darkness he'd climbed out into.

"It's not even daytime?!"

"Nope, sorry. We considered delaying rescue but weren't sure if you'd appreciate it. We'll do better next time."

"You, you shut the fuck up. I can picture your smug grin, shut up."

"Tony!" Steve shouted from behind Spiderman and Tony could swear he was ready to cry at the sight of the two super soldiers walking towards them. "We've got SHIELD landing!"

Tony noticed the helicopter now; just in the distance, slowly lowering itself to the ground so that armed agents could climb out. Another helicopter began to repeat what the first one had done, this one had some medical staff as well. Tony looked around, to see that there was another helicopter at the opposite end of the roof, as well as the quinjet.

 _Oh sweet lord the quinjet._

"That little cock." The Doctor said. Tony had almost forgotten how nasty she could sound. "The fuck is he doing here?"

Tony saw him now, at the front of the group; or almost, there were three agents walking in front of him, as if they were personal bodyguards. Tony wasn't sure if Agent Robertson was important enough to have bodyguards. He didn't really care, if he was totally honest.

"Stark!" The man called out, grinning. "Have you gone for a new paint job?"

Tony must've looked confused because Agent Robertson pointed ahead at something behind Tony. He turned to see a pale pink suit, with the head plate up to conceal whoever might be inside.

"Oh, yeah, she said you might need this." Steve said, holding a small black gun out to the woman who had come out of the hole with Spiderman. He knew who the Doctor was, they all did now and yet, it seemed right for her to have the little gun back.

"Captain Rogers, don't tell me you're arming a criminal!"

"I won't then." Steve said, turning to face the man he knew to be Agent Robertson.

"Does he know we know what he said to Nat?" Bucky asked, which caught her attention.

"What'd he say about our favourite spider hero?" The Doctor asked.

"Aww, really?" Spiderman asked, sounding upset.

"Called her a whore." Tony said as bluntly as he could.

She didn't say anything but Tony noticed how her mouth seemed to thin out, pressed tightly together while she was thinking. She didn't move, besides her good hand fiddling with the gun she'd been given. He glanced back and saw that the pink suit was in the same place; maybe no one was in it?

"We're finished." Bruce's came came over their earpieces.

"Finished what?" Tony asked, looking around Bruce but he couldn't see his team mate anywhere on the roof.

"Get them on the jet." Steve ordered; Clint, Natasha and Bucky moved, ushering Tony and The Doctor, moving them towards the jet's open ramp. "Get us some cloud cover." Steve ordered over his earpiece as Tony stepped up the ramp into the jet.

"Captain Rogers, this is an order; stand down! You are here for Stark, no one else! Give us the criminal!" Steve could hear Robertson shouting, moving closer to the jet. He heard thunder overhead, which was almost loud enough to block out the Agent's voice.

"Captain?" Clint asked, looking as Steve as the team leader readjusted his shield on his back and nodded. "Let her do her thing!" Clint shouted out, and gave three loud bangs on the door to the pilot's quarters.

"Hand her here." Someone said to Bucky, taking the weight of the Doctor so that Bucky could go keep watch from the ramp.

"Rudolf?" Tony asked outloud when he saw Loki helping the Doctor over to Bruce, who had set up a small first aid station on the floor of the quinjet. "Good to see you up and about." The door Clint had knocked on opened suddenly and Thor stepped out, ignoring the others as he walked off the ramp, and down to the pink suit.

"Friends of Coulson!" Thor shouted, holding an arm up, showing his palm to the Agents in a sort of wave. A number of the agents seemed to be listening to someone over their earpieces; they began to file back onto the helicopters, which were already starting their engines. Robertson looked around in fury at the agents who were leaving their posts. "We are ready to depart now. It was good to see you all! The good Captain asked me to tell you that if you tried to follow, you would be stopped."

"By who? A team of fake heroes?!" Robertson shouted, taking a weapon from one of his bodyguards. "You are going against active orders of a SHIELD Agent!"

"Captain Rogers is in fact an Agent of your group! He said it was most convenient, as he overrides you, whatever that means." Thor said, placing a hand on a shoulder of the pink suit. "It shall not be us who stops you."

The sky gave a crash as it seemed to open up; a huge bolt of lightning cracked, spreading out over the sky which had become full of dark storm clouds. Sparks lit up around Thor's hand, which spread onto the suit and covered it, then died down. Thor let go of the suit as it's eyes lit up, opening wide then narrowing down, staring at Robertson.

"Apparently you already know each other!" Thor said with a grin, waving at Robertson before joining the others on the jet. The ramp closed as they began to leave the ground. Steve began take off procedures, then set the jet to autopilot so he could join the others in watching the rooftop. The suit had begun to move; slowly, with forced steps. Robotic, clunky and _heavy._

"That suit is fully upgraded! What the hell is wrong with it?" Tony asked, staring out of the very back window, annoyed at the suit because what the hell was wrong? It was so slow!

"Nothing." Bucky said, watching from where he was standing beside Steve. He was smiling, which confused Tony even more. Bucky reached up and hit a switch so they could hear the audio from the suit.

There was static and heavy breathing, then "Hello, Robertson."

"That's-" Tony was cut off when he was shoved aside by someone. He looked back at where he had been standing, after catching himself, to see The Doctor standing in his place, looking out of the window, frowning.

"That fucking bitch, what the hell is she up to?!" She demanded, smashing her good hand against the glass in a fist. "She's going to get herself killed."

"Who is this?" Robertson asked, aiming his weapon – a small handgun – at the suit, grinning. "You will not be safe, not after going against SHIELD, not after going against me."

"Will I die again?"

"Again?" Robertson asked, confused; the suit hissed as the faceplate lowered itself, and the mechanic looked out at him, grinning. "You're meant to be dead."

"Yes. Blown into little pieces." She said, raising an arm to run a suited hand over her face and through her ponytail, before lowering it again.

"You weren't blown small enough then. How's the leg?" He asked, smirking. "Last I heard about it, you got denied every time you applied for other roles. You were _lucky_ to have been chosen at all!"

"It's good, I fixed it." She said. The faceplate snapped shut and there was a very soft hiss from within the suit. "I'm a mechanic Robertson, and so-"

"So what?!"

"And so is Tony Stark."

The suit hissed again and the plates began to move; they moved inwards, snapping into place closer to her body, becoming more form figure, tighter and more maneuverable.

"That's…that can't be her suit." The Doctor said, letting out a breath as she watched the suit race towards Robertson and the few guards who had remained. The jet was getting further away, making the figures on the roof smaller, harder to watch. The guards were firing but moving backwards, apparently becoming nervous when the suit showed no signs of stopping. The suit's faceplate was back up, protecting the mechanic.

Finally, they were too far to see much except blurs of black suited SHIELD Agents, backing close to the remaining helicopter; they could still hear the audio feed, through the jet's speakers.

"So what, then? You're a hero now?!" Robertson was shouting.

"Suit feed, Friday!" Tony shouted, hoping the cameras were active.; they were. A screen flickered to life to show a first person point of view, from the chest of the suit as it walked towards the helicopter. "You think you're the next Tony fucking Stark?! You failed before and you will fail this time! You're a fucking failure! We knew it and the army knew it!"

The suit ran then leapt, landing on the front windshield of the helicopter and pushing up, so that it was standing near the rotor. The suit's hands reached out and grabbed a hold of the rotor, which had begun to spin, not quite having gained any real speed yet. The rotor tried to move, screeching as motors began to overheat. Finally, the suit's arms pulled and the rotor began to warp, pulling to the side, losing the fight against the robotic suit.

"Tony Stark wishes he was me!" She shouted and let out a grunt when she pulled even harder. The helicopter gave a final wheeze as a motor died, then the metal snapped away with a deafening crunch of metal collapsing in on itself as the suit pulled the rotor free from it's holding and threw it aside, letting it crash on the rooftop the helicopter was now stranded on. She jumped down, grabbing the side of the helicopter's open doorway and swinging into the helicopter where she landed with a loud thud.

"It's good to see you again, Robertson." She said, standing over the agents. The Doctor could imagine the grin that was on her Mechanic's face. She loved that smile. "We were just talking about you earlier, actually. A little birdy told me that you said some things about Natasha that weren't very nice."

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Robertson growled, pulling one of the Agent's in front of him.

"How _dare_ you call Natasha Romanoff a _whore._ " She snarled, letting the suit open up around her so she could step out into the helicopter.

"What? You want me to apologize to her? It's obvious why Barton brought her back! What did she do to thank him? She goes and becomes a toy for anyone in SHIELD who fucking wants her, don't tell me I'm wro-" Robertson yelped when she darted forward and grabbed his collar, knocking the other agent to the side and dragged the squirming man from the helicopter.

"End audio feed." She said and the speakers died, letting the jet fall into silence for the first time since they boarded it that day.

"I thought you were meant to be keeping her still?" Bruce asked, looking at Loki who just shrugged.

"She seemed to want to go to the window, she will not die from her shoulder injury. I saw no reason to stop her."

"I'm more worried about possible starvation, actually." Bruce said and sighed, rubbing his eyes with his palms. "Alright, can we just…look at your shoulder?"

"If you have to." She said as she waked over to Bruce and sat on the ground, keeping her eyes on Tony.

"Why is Loki here, by the way?" Tony asked, sitting on one of the benches in the back of the jet. "Not that I mind, of course."

"I was asked to accompany your…team, in case urgent medical care was required."

"You a doctor too?" She asked, letting out a weak scoff.

"I can heal with magic, so I am a magical doctor, I suppose."

"You gonna magic my shoulder back together?"

Loki raised an eyebrow at the unexpected question.

"If you'd like me to. It would be best if we used the room to the side, as it can be quite…painful, and is much easier if your skin is exposed."

"Alright." She let Loki help her up and the two went to the pilot's quarters, closing the door behind them so Loki could work in private.

"…Are we missing someone?" Tony asked, looking around for Peter, or Spiderman.

"He's asleep…somewhere, on the jet." Clint said, handing a glass of something cold to Tony who took it without thinking. "Probably wedged himself into a vent somewhere. Kid's been a mess since he realized you were gone."

"Good at hiding it though." Bucky added and Clint nodded.

"Right." Tony said, frowning. "…Wait, how does she know the jerk-off SHIELD guy?"

"Not sure, we weren't expecting that." Steve said from the pilot's seat. He didn't have to fly the plane but he needed something to keep himself busy. Tony moved to the seat beside Steve's and settled in, letting Bruce throw a blanket over him before leaving to check on Loki and the Doctor.

"Lucky you were able to cause that explosion. Were either of you injured in it?" Steve asked.

"No, she shoved me into a pool and held me underwater til the…explosion, I guess, was over." Tony explained, pulling the blanket tighter around him. He didn't realize how cold he was until now. He had forgotten how soaked with water he was from the pool. "I didn't really cause it anyway, I just built the…machine."

"What kind of machine was it?"

"Some kind of…vaporizer, I think would be the best term. It was meant to heat up some chemical they had her make and store it as some kind of gas until they wanted to use it."

"I'm guessing she made the chemical a little differently to what they wanted."

"I guess? She never really explained what they wanted her to make and I had no real desire to know. I wonder how Loki is doing, I can't hear anything so maybe it's not as bad as he expected?"

"She is unconscious." Loki said, joining them. "Her injury was quite severe so it was painful, she did not…enjoy the healing, so I made sure she was not conscious. The magic will wear off after some time and she will wake up, in far better shape than she was when we began."

"She's going to need to start on increasing her caloric intake when we're back." Bruce said. "Do you think she'll be okay at the tower or should we go somewhere else?"

"Wherever you think would be good." Tony said.

"The medical floor at your tower would be best I think, as we can completely control the environment and who is in it. Especially if SHIELD has plans to come after her." Loki said, lowering himself into a chair.

"Sounds good, we can move her somewhere else when she's conscious if she wants." Steve said and they agreed, then fell into an easy if nervous silence. The rest of the flight was easy with smooth sailing back to the tower. They unloaded all their gear while Bruce walked Tony to the medbay for a check up. Once everything was unpacked, Steve went back to the jet to collect the Doctor. He ran into Peter in the hangar, while the teen was heading towards the jet.

"Oh Peter, were you getting her?" Steve asked in surprise. He didn't think Tony would have wanted Peter to collect the woman, though Tony did have a knack for surprising him.

"Getting who, soldier?" A nasty voice asked from the ramp leading up to the jet. Steve and Peter glanced over to the the Doctor walk down the ramp and step onto the hangar floor.

"Bruce wanted you to go to medi-" Peter was cut off by a voice from behind him, as someone entered the hangar floor.

"I'll take her down, you two go rest." The woman, Clockwork, said with a blank face.

"But I'm fin-" She shot Peter a glance as she walked past him.

"Kid, I know what work you put into keeping everyone in some kind of sane working order during this. Go see your…mentor, whatever the hell he is. I'll take care of her."

"I hate when you take care of me." The Doctor whined. Clockwork just shook her head and grabbed the woman's arm, leading her out of the hangar and down to medical.

"-fine! I just had a fucked up shoulder, I'm fine. The weird guy fixed it with magic. Which, I never expected to say, if I'm honest. I want to go _home."_

"Your home is in _Italy._ I am not letting you sit on an almost ten hour flight after having been missing for a week!" Clockwork hissed back, as they stepped into the medical room, forgetting that Bruce and Tony were already there.

"I told you already, I'm fine!" The Doctor spat, folding her arms over her chest, standing away from Clockwork. "I want to go the fuck home."

"Well, once I've done a check over on you both, I don't see a reason why you can't go home. I'll have to arrange some protein drinks for you to take, to avoid refeeding syndrome from kicking in." Bruce said, finishing up on the wounds on Tony he was cleaning; a small gash, short but deep. He'd finished cleaning it and was ready to begin stitching when he looked up at Tony, and saw the man looking at the women with an eyebrow raised.

"Doctor." Clockwork said, voice flat.

"What?" The Doctor asked, rolling her eyes.

"I know what refeeding syndrome is."

"Oh for fucks sake, why?!"

"How long did you eat before you went missing?"

"Look Clock-"

"Don't."

"…Like, three days I guess, I don't know! I was busy with work."

"You're staying here." Clockwork said, and stepped back into the elevator, pinching the bridge of her nose, eyes closed, when the doors slid shut.

"Did you not mention the whole being starved thing?" Tony asked, wincing as Bruce finished off the stitches.

"I also didn't mention the waterboarding." She said, dropping into a seat nearby.

"We can talk about that later." Clockwork's voice came over the speakers.

"…Oh now that's just annoying." The Doctor whined, resting her head on a table nearby, folding her arms on the table above her head.

Bruce was happy enough with Tony's condition that he felt comfortable letting the man head back upstairs, while he stayed with the woman in the medical bay, to check over her. Tony found peter in the penthouse, fiddling with Tony's phone; he was checking Tony's message bank for some reason.

"You have five voicemails recorded." The phone's voice said outloud.

" _Hi Mister Stark! I'll be late tonight sorry, going shopping with May for some stuff for the apartment! See you later!"_

" _Hey Mister Stark, are you going to be home tonight? Clint said you didn't come back the other night, hope you're okay! See you soon!"_

" _I'm not sure what to do, Mister Stark. Where are you? Do we have to come look for you? You haven't answered any calls…"_

" _Bucky found your car. Steve went and looked at it as well, with Natasha. He said she would be the best one to look, to find clues about…what happened to you. I'm going to go with Clint and try to help him look. I have to do something."_

" _We found something. We're on our way. You have to be okay, okay? You have to be."_

The phone gave a loud beep when Peter deleted the voicemails.

"Pete." Tony said, startling Peter. The teen turned to stare at Tony, knocking the phone onto the ground. Tony took four large steps towards Peter and grabbed the teen, pulling him into a tight hug. Peter hesitated, shocked, then returned the hug; he was careful not to hurt Tony by accident. They held each other tight, not wanting to let go of each other. It had been…hard for Peter, thinking he'd lost someone else, and Tony seemed to know that.

"I'm okay." Tony whispered, and Peter nodded without saying anything.

 _Clockwork and The Doctor do have an ending! I've written it all out, don't worry! You won't be stuck with them forever!_


	56. Chapter 56 - Playing Doctor

**Chapter 56**

 **Playing Doctor**

"Bruce, this is amazing. You're amazing, don't ever leave us." Tony said as he shoveled food into his mouth. Bruce had made some kind of sweet chili chicken dish with coconut rice as a side and Tony was busy feeding himself into a coma. Maybe curried chicken wasn't strictly a breakfast food but god damn, it was _good._

"Do you think she'd be okay to have some?" Steve asked, returning to the dining room with a fresh jug of cold water for everyone. Natasha took the jug from Steve and refilled everyone's glasses so that Steve could sit down and eat.

"From what I can tell, she hasn't eaten in over a week. I don't know how far into starvation she's gotten. I don't want to risk her body going into shut down from solid food. Some juice and a protein shake should be okay, if she drinks them slowly." Bruce told Steve, holding a hand over his plate to stop Tony from stealing his naan bread. He kept his hand over his plate while he reached for the plate full of naan bread at the end of the table and moved it over to Tony.

Bruce began to eat now that Tony was satisfied with Bruce's offering of naan bread and was no longer trying to steal off of Bruce's plate.

"We've got heaps of protein shakes in the fridge, I'll take some down to her. I'm not sure what juice we've got though, besides that fancy stuff Pepper keeps here." Steve said, tearing some naan bread apart as he spoke.

"Go nuts, I'll get some new bottles sent over with the next grocery order. She'll understand." Tony said, with a wave of his hand to show just how 'whatever' Pepper would be about it. "You gotta eat first, she can wait. Was that rude? I shouldn't be rude to her."

Steve laughed at the comment, it was good to hear Tony's voice again. Everyone was glad they'd found him alive, though they weren't really expecting The Doctor to be with him. Clockwork had been at the tower to collect her new suit when Peter had come to Steve, about his concerns for Tony's whereabouts. Clockwork had told them they could give her a call if they needed help finding him, since he'd upgraded the suit. She'd seen the SHIELD helicopters and decided it would be a good time to test the new suit.

"I won't tell her, don't worry." Steve said, grinning over the table at Tony who glared back. They ate and talked, enjoying their company as a full team; Peter was there, in the lounge. He was watching something on TV, not wanting to be near the others but wanting to hear their voices. He hadn't told them that, just said he felt super tired. The team chalked it up to him having been so nervous the last few days, so they let the kid relax.

Once he was finished eating, Steve grabbed a bottle of juice and two proteins shakes from the fridge. He placed one of the shakes onto the couch besides Peter and kept walking, heading down to the med-bay, where he could hear talking in one of the private rooms.

"A week! You were gone for _over_ a week! Of course I was worried!"

"I already told you, I don't need you to worry about me."

"Well obviously I didn't listen to you!"

"I told you! I don't need to be fucking looked after! You just can't wrap your beautiful fucking head around it!"

"…Are you finished yelling at me now?"

"No! I have plenty to yell about, I was kidnapped! I've had a shitty week and I want to go home!"

"You _will_ get to go home, I just want to make sure you're safe to do so. We can arrange for a hotel or something, just-"

"I can't _be_ with you at a hotel, or here, I _need_ to go home."

That made Steve stop outside the little side room they were in. He'd been tidying up the main area quickly before heading over to them. He stopped, outside of their view, and froze. The emphasis on _be_ was what caught his attention.

"…Are you being a nasty bitch to me because you're in a _mood?_ You're ridiculous. I am not getting intimate with you after your shoulder was-"

"Shut up."

There was what sounded like a quick scuffle, and someone fell against a table with a pained groan. Steve quickly stepped into the doorway to make sure no one was hurt. The two women were near one of the metal tables; Clockwork was leaning back against the table, with the Doctor pressed into her, their chests pressed together. Steve stepped back quickly and headed to the elevator, leaving the drinks on one of the benches in the main area.

He paused inside the elevator, and thought for a moment.

"Friday, can you lock down the medbay? Without telling anyone why?"

"Of course, Captain Rogers."

"Good." He said, and took a deep breath. He stepped out into the lounge, to find everyone gone and the kitchen clean. Peter was curled up on the couch, watching footage from the rooftop. He had a pad of lined paper and different coloured pens near his hands.

"…What are you up to?" Steve asked, standing behind the couch.

"It was the suit's first real test today, so I'm taking notes on what we could change." Peter said, pulling his blanket tighter around him, relaxing into the soft fabric.

"Sounds good." Steve said, then continued walking to his room. He showered and changed into clothes for the day since he was going to go grocery shopping with Bruce, maybe Natasha if they could drag her along. He was distracted while he got ready; what the hell had he walked in on?

It wasn't that it was two women, he had no issue with that. It was…who, he had walked in on. Something about those two women actually _being_ close, made him pause and think but he couldn't place why. Was it because they were both criminals? He wasn't actually sure if Clockwork was a criminal, so that wasn't it. Maybe it was just that he'd misunderstood their relationship. He'd figured it was at most a tense friendship, maybe more built on 'favors' than an actual friendship. The Doctor didn't seem much like someone who would want that kind of intimacy.

Yes, that was it. He was simply shocked by it, that was all. He had no issue with them, not really; The Doctor freaked him out a bit, that was a definite but it was hard to be frightened of her when she'd been so broken just the day before. He'd never tell her that though. He finished getting ready and grabbed two more protein shakes from the fridge; one for him and one for Bucky, before he had to leave with Bruce.

"Taking more down?" Tony asked from the kitchen table. Steve snorted at the look of annoyance on Tony's face.

"No, these are for me and Bucky, why do you look like that?"

"I can't get into the medbay."

"…Don't you own this place? Why can't you get in?"

"I don't know! Friday said something about the girls wanting 'privacy', whatever the hell that means."

Steve paused. _What could he say?"_

"They…were arguing, earlier, when I went down. Pretty loudly. Maybe they had a fight?"

"Who had a fight?" Clint asked, walking into the kitchen with Natasha. Both of them were dressed casual, to go out.

 _Clint must be coming along as well._

"The weird ladies that are in my medbay." Tony said, exasperated.

"Oh those two? Yeah, that's not surprising. They don't get along that great, I figured Clockwork would make sure Doc was alive and then head off, surprised she's still hanging about." Clint said, shrugging. "Are we going now? Natasha said we could get donuts."

"Yeah, let's go." Steve said, shaking his head but smiling. They collected Bruce from the lab, left the protein shake in the gym for Bucky, then headed out.

A few hours later, Clockwork emerged from the medbay to find more drinks for The Doctor. She thought it was only a few hours but it seemed...dark, in the tower.

"Man, Tony Stark never heard of lights?" She asked herself, grumbling. There was a gentle hum, then the room brightened slowly, just enough so she could see her way to the kitchen from the elevator. "The wonder of technology. This place is so fucking weird."

"Apologies Miss, the lights are dimmed if there is nobody present in the vicinity. I was undergoing a maintenance check when you entered the room, so my sensors did not detect you." Friday explained, from the ceiling speakers.

"All good computer lady, I'm just mumbling to myself." She said, opening the fridge and looking at it's contents. "Man I'm sick of protein drinks, do these guys not own anything else? Oh they've got more juice; do you think I'm allowed that?" She asked outloud, wondering if the house was listening.

"Mister Stark confirmed you could help yourself to anything you require." Friday answered.

"Neat, I'm taking all of these then." She grabbed the last three bottles of juice and used her hip to close the fridge door. The fridge closed with a bang, and someone on the couch nearby sat up suddenly, giving a strained yelp as they grabbed onto the back of the couch with their fingertips.

"What-!" She startled at the movement, dropping two of the juice bottles with smashed against the ground and spilt over the tiled floor; _who even makes drink bottles out of glass? Idiots, dammit._

"Mister Stark?" Peter asked, struggling to catch his breath. "We've gotta…he's missing…we-" Peter jumped off the couch at the noise from the bottles breaking. His foot caught the coffee table and stumbled forward, landing on the ground with a thud.

"Whoa, kid!" She half shouted, putting the unbroken bottle on the dining table so she could hold her hands up. "Easy, I'm just getting drinks."

"Mister Stark has been notified of Peter's distress." Friday announced.

"Ahh fuck, why?!" She shouted. "Come on, I just needed drinks!"

"Peter!?" Tony shouted as he stepped out of the elevator, catching her figure off to his side. "What happened? What did you do?!"

"Miss Clockwork was retrieving drinks from the fridge. The sound of the fridge closing startled Peter awake, causing her to drop her drinks in surprise." Friday answered.

"Oh thank the computer lady gods, jesus christ." She mumbled, looking at the mess of glass and juice at her feet. "God I am so over today."

"Go back to medbay. I'll clean it up, just…fuck off." Tony said without looking over at her, crouching down to pull Peter towards him.

"Can do, boss." She said, grabbing the last drink and heading back into the elevator towards medbay.

A little while later, when Peter was settled in Tony's bed, asleep, Bruce called for Tony to join him in the lab to go over some scans.

"What have you got, doc?" Tony asked when he finally got down to Bruce's lab.

"I've finished the finalized prosthetic plans, just need you to go over them and we can start fabrication."

"Any luck with the rest of the research?"

"…No, we've still got no idea what's inside her chest."

"Maybe we should…ask her?"

"I'd rather not, thanks."

"Come on, it's fine. Worst she can do is say no."

"You sound awfully confident." Bruce said, shaking his head. He still followed Tony to the medbay however.

"The medbay is under lockdown, my apologies." Friday was telling Tony.

"It's important Friday, open up."

"Medbay is on lockdown."

"Friday! Open up!"

"Very well." Friday finally gave in. Tony grinned at the doors as they slid open and he stepped into the main area of the medbay, noticing that the door to one of the side areas was partially closed.

"…Is that the shirt she was wearing earlier?" Bruce asked, pointing at a shirt on the floor; it had been stained with blood and dirt. The Doctor had refused all offers of a spare shirt from the team. "Did someone convince her to get changed?"

"Good for her, she needed to get cleaned up." Tony said, stepping over to the door and pushing it open slowly; surprising two potentially murderous people wasn't a good idea, and he hoped to live through this. The first thing he noticed was a second shirt on the ground, as well as a pair of black leggings.

"Huh." Tony said as he scanned the ground for more clothes and a little further into the room he noticed something on the ground. He moved over and realized it was a very expensive looking bra.

"Tony?" Bruce asked, glancing around the room which was empty of people besides the two of them.

"Uhhh…."

"I don't want to go anywhere." A voice came from a corner of the room that was blocked off by a heavy white curtain suspended from the ceiling.

"You're bloody, dirty and sweaty. You need to have a shower." Someone said back, gently. "You can go home when you're looking less…halfway to dead."

"Well it's your fault I look like this, not mine."

"Only one of those things is my fault, thank you very much. Go have a shower, it's bound to be nicer than your shower at home. You're in the Avengers Tower, you brat."

"Sounds like you've become a fan."

"Did you see my suit?" Clockwork asked, and Tony could _hear_ the smugness.

"Fine, only if you're going to join me."

"You say it like you had a choice."

The curtain began to shift, and a hand appeared at the edge to pull it aside.

"Gogogogo!" Tony said quickly, pushing Bruce back and out of the room, then they kept going, running into the elevator and shouting for Friday to _get them out of there._ They stumbled out into the lounge, where the rest of the team were hanging out, getting lunch ready.

"What's wrong with you two?" Bucky asked from the dining table, where he was setting the table for lunch.

"We- they- in the lab!" Tony tried to say, lost for words at what they'd very nearly walked in on. Had walked in on; oh my god what had they walked in on?!

"…What the hell happened?" Clint asked, carrying a huge bowl of potato salad over and putting in the middle of the table, carefully so that he didn't disturb the work Bucky had done already.

"Well." Bruce said, trying to catch his breath. He hadn't planned on running today. "We…I think we walked in on the two of them playing doctor."

The team was silent.

Bucky was the first one to burst into laughter, followed by Clint and Natasha. Steve…looked suspiciously unsurprised.

"Steve…you don't seem very…stunned by this." Bruce pointed out, and Steve looked sheepishly at the others.

"Steve don't tell me you guessed it already and didn't tell us!" Tony said, ignoring how loud the others were laughing.

"Err, no. I overheard them talking the other day."

"…You said they were fighting!"

"They were! Then they weren't."

"…What did they say?" Bruce asked.

"Well, they were mostly fighting about how Clockwork wasn't allowed to be worried about The Doctor, and someone…hit a table I guess? So I went into make sure they weren't trying to kill each other and…"

"Oh my god did you walk in on them getting it on?!" Clint asked in a shout, which made the three of them laugh even harder.

"They were just kissing!" Steve shouted the correction, trying to defend himself.

"…You put the medbay on lockdown, didn't you!" Tony shouted accusingly.

"I didn't see anything wrong with asking Friday to keep people out." Steve said, shrugging.

"…How muscly is she?" Tony asked, suddenly very serious.

"What?" Steve stared at Tony, taken aback by the question.

"Dude, I saw her arms, she's like a fucking tank."

"…They were dressed when I went down."

"Man, I know I shouldn't want to know but-"

Tony was cut off by the vent in the ceiling suddenly opening and Peter dropping down, gently landing on the dining table and jumping onto the floor, without disturbing the table setting.

"What the fuck-" Clint stepped back into Natasha, who shoved him aside into Bucky. "Where'd you come from?!"

"The ceiling?" Peter asked, pointing up at the vent. "Sorry if I'm late for lunch, I got caught in the elevator."

"What? How?" Clint asked, raising an eyebrow.

"That Clock lady was in there, she asked me if there was a shower they could use. I told them there were some spare guest rooms on the floor above this one."

"…You mean where Loki is currently staying?" Tony asked, breaking into a grin. "Good, he can deal with them. Can we just…have lunch, and ignore how today is currently going?"

"Yes!" Peter said, dropping into a seat. "I'm sick of today, why is a Saturday so awful?"

"Mighty Peter, what troubles you?" Thor asked as he dropped into a dining chair. When did he get there? He was getting stealthier, somehow. Likely Loki's fault.

"Just stuff with the decathlon team and the apartment and just…life? And! I can't believe some of the stuff we overlooked with the suit!"

"Like what? We were fine-toothed-comb careful with that thing." Tony said, sitting next to Peter at the table. Peter aimed his wrist at the vent and shot a web out to grab the notebook that was peeking out over the opening, and pulled it into his hands, to hold it out to Tony.

"…Alright." Tony said, taking the notebook and laying it out on the table, reading over it as the others served lunch. Clint filled Tony's plate and passed it back, amused by Tony taking it without looking up from the book.

"Peter." Tony said later on, once everyone had finished eating.

"Mmm?"

"…We're idiots."

"I know!"

"This could be causing her more pain! We'll need to reconfigure the power supply in the whole suit, she can't wear it out again like this. Come on, we can go start work now." Tony said, leaving the table; Peter followed with a grin, beaming as they made their way to the lab to start work.

They loved working together. Peter was very vocal about it in random bursts of words he'd say then regret. He was still a little awkward around Tony; he didn't want to fall into some kind of hero worship trap. It was easy to forget that Tony wasn't the man the media reported about; he was so much _better than that._


	57. Chapter 57 - I Need Company

**Chapter 57**

 **I Need Company**

" _You're dismissed. Return your suit and helmet, and go back to the workshops." The man told her. Dismissed. Just like that. "Walk her back."_

" _Yes sir." The security guard said with a quick salute. She left the room, helmet tucked in the crook of her arm, as she walked back to the main hangar with the security guard beside her.._

" _Would it be alright if I said goodbye to the team first?" She asked, quietly._

"… _Normally no but, I'll allow it this time. Just be quick."_

" _Thank you."_

 _She walked into her hangar to find it in chaos._

" _There you are! What did he want? We've got a team missing!" Her team leader, Tom, shouted from his station. He was pulling his gear on, getting ready for flight._

" _Who? What team?"_

" _That research team that was on it's way back; they found something! They found something and they've gone missing, got snatched from their rendezvous point. The retrieval team was late because of the storm. Are you okay to fly?"_

 _No. I'm not a pilot. I was dismissed. I'm a cripple, and I was just reminded of it, harshly._

" _Yes, let's go."_

 _He gave her a nod and finished getting ready, then headed to his own plane, which was waiting outside. It didn't take long for her to reconnect her communications headset to the main system, then she headed to her own plane that was waiting outside the hangar._

" _Alright team! There'll be five of us; this is a rescue mission. We locate, and keep the rescue team safe until a retrieval copter can get them, we won't have room to bring them all back with us. There's eight of them in total." Tom said over the headsets, getting his plane ready for take off. She was following her own procedures, getting her tiny plane ready to leave. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the security guard walking towards them, as well as her main supervisor._

" _Bird Two, can you lead point? You know that area better than us, and you're the best at stormy weather." Tom said. Bird Two; that was her. She grinned automatically at the compliment._

" _Roger that, moving into position now." She said, taxi-ing her plane out to the front of the group, then taking off down the short runway. One minute she was racing towards the brick wall that surrounded the compound then she was airborne, heading higher into the sky. The others followed her, leaving enough space between them to kept each other safe while using their time wisely. It was sunset when her plane left the ground, so she flew up into the sky when it was a bright, vivid mix of oranges, pinks and blues. In the direction they had to head towards, there were heavy black clouds waiting. They headed out and disappeared into the dark clouds. After a few hours of flight, the silence inside of her plane was broken._

" _Bird Two, report in." Someone came over her radio. She sighed and with a smile, answered the call._

" _Bird Two, reporting in."_

" _What the hell are you playing at? Return to base immediately; you are no longer dismissed, you are discharged."_

" _Sir-"_

" _What?"_

 _Something on the horizon caught her eye, something in the trees. Smoke._

" _Smoke sighted ahead, to the direct north. Possible campfire, scouting ahead." She said, pushing her speed just a little._

" _Return to base, now!"_

 _Something shot out of the forest canopy, coming towards her. She just barely managed to pull her plane aside to avoid it; she saw it closely as it sailed past her plane, then smashed into a nearby rock formation and exploded._

" _Missiles!" She shouted, pulling sharply to the side to avoid another one that came from the trees. This one was even closer; she could see the Stark Industries logo painted on it's side. "They're Stark property!"_

" _Stolen missiles! Everyone avoid, split to the sides, you know your formation!" Tom replied, and the rest of their group separated out in a zipper motion, avoiding the location the two missiles had come from._

" _Maybe rockets, they're a little small but- oh, fuck." She saw the helicopter and the man leaning out of it's side, holding the rocket launcher in his arms. "They're airborne!"_

" _Can you see the research team?"_

"… _Yes! I can see a group of eight in the uniform down below." She avoided the helicopter and darted around it, dragging its attention away from the other planes._

" _Bird Three and Four, I want you to find somewhere to land and go wait by the team, I can't see any hostiles below us." Tom said, scanning the horizon; he could see the little plane shooting across the sky in front of him, leading a helicopter behind it. It looped around, rolling over itself and then correcting suddenly, so that it was flying below the helicopter. Whoever was flying the helicopter seemed to notice the other planes, and was pointing out at the ones who were landing nearby._

" _They've spotted us, pull back!"_

 _She pulled her plane up, increasing her speed as she turned it around and moved level with the helicopter, coming up behind it._

" _Have we got all friendlies accounted for?" She asked, checking her read outs on the control panel._

" _Affirmative, eight friendlies accounted for, minimal injuries and only one hostile who has been incapacitated." The pilot she knew to be from Bird Four replied; his name was Adam. She tried her weapons again and once again, there was nothing. They were jammed and useless. Another rocket launched from the air, hitting the ground near the group; one of the landed planes was struck, reduced to scrap metal in the explosion._

" _Alright fellas." She said, beginning a procedure she'd never really practiced properly. "The past few years have been fun, not good, but fun."_

" _What the hell you on about?" Tom asked, pulling to the side as a rocket flew past his plane. "Pull back, you're too close!"_

" _I was never going to get that surgery; I knew I wasn't. Sorry Tom. I…I shouldn't be here, I was dismissed, earlier. I'm not a pilot, I'm a mechanic."_

" _Watt-"_

" _If you ever meet Tony Stark, punch him in the face for me."_

 _She pushed her speed and felt the plane lurch as it accelerated; she'd never gone so fast, so quickly before._

" _It's been good." She said, pulling the lever for the emergency eject; she didn't know why, there was no point. The plane connected with the back of the helicopter as another rocket was launched. The right wing of the plane broke away from the body and flew upwards, colliding with the rocket, causing it to explode on contact. The sky lit up as the two aircrafts became a single ball of fire, which fell to the earth below and crashed, spreading out over the densely forested area. Tom said nothing to his team, besides telling them that the hostile aircraft had been destroyed._

 _Tom returned to the base hours later, followed by his team and the retrieval helicopter._

" _Welcome back, sir. I was told you found the research team." The supervisor said, saluting the team as they walked into the hangar. Tom stopped, and took a deep breath, then another before he looked up at the crowd in the hangar. Pilots and the maintenance crew; she had been a part of both teams._

" _Bird Two has been lost." He said; he had to be blunt about it, or he'd lose it. Stay strong for your team, he'd told himself. "She…sacrificed herself, to eliminate a hostile aircraft. The mission success is hers."_

 _He nodded at the crowd and left without another word, his team following in silence as they walked towards their temporary accommodation. He wondered if he could get a temporary leave granted, so they could go into town and drink._

 _Everything was wet and dirty; she was laying in a puddle of mud, which had become loose and sloppy from all the rain they'd flown through. They'd flown; that's why she was here. Where was here? She was dead._

 _She reached an arm out and was unable to stop herself from screaming when the movement pulled on the deep cut running up her arm and shoulder. Her eyes stung from the pain in her arm, and from the mud that was caked onto her face, rubbing against her eyes when she blinked._

"… _A-am…I have to be dead." She told herself, struggling to push herself up from the ground. She gave up and slumped down into the mud, letting herself cry. She was alone, there was no one here to see her and judge. How long would she be here, waiting to die from her injuries? Something was stuck inside her upper leg; glass, maybe. She'd bleed to death, eventually._

" _Fucking rain, this is garbage." Someone said; she'd begun to hallucinate already. She wasn't surprised, the pain was…unbearable. "Oh damn, army brat got left behind. What a shame."_

" _N-not…a brat." She choked out, giving in to the delusions._

"… _Holy fuck, you're not dead?" Someone was standing beside her, then they were crouching over her. "How'd you end up in the mud?"_

" _M-my…plane…hit…helicopter…" She could feel herself losing control over her words; it was becoming difficult to focus on speaking._

" _You were in that? Fuck. How are you even in one piece?" The voice asked, and hands were on her chest, then her shoulders and her arms. "Alright, this is gonna hurt, just give me a minute."_

 _Whoever was there, real or not, moved her. They sort of half carried, half dragged her out of the mud. She screamed at the pain in her leg and shoulder, and the new pain that had come up everywhere else. Finally, they'd stopped, and she was leaning back against…something hard, and dry._

" _Alright stay still, it'll be cold." The voice said, and water splashed against her, then a hand rubbed at her skin, helping to wash the dirt and blood away. Finally, she could see; when she opened her eyes, a woman with short black hair and harsh jawbones was crouched in front of her, hovering just above the ground, almost bouncing on her feet._

" _You look better already." The woman said, grinning._

" _I-I…know you…" She said, trying to remember why she knew that face. Dread settled hard and sudden in her stomach when she realized who it was. "D-Doctor?"_

"… _Well, I didn't expect you to say that, definitely. How do you know me?"_

" _No-"_

" _I won't hurt you, you're bad enough as it is. You'd barely feel anything I could do to you anyway."_

 _She scoffed, somehow, which hurt her chest. "Don't believe…"_

" _Course you don't, come on, just tell me."_

" _SHIELD…wanted list…"_

"… _You're SHIELD?"_

" _Got kicked out…no good, bad leg…"_

" _I'm sure you're plenty good, I mostly kept you talking so I could load a needle while you weren't watching my hands." The woman said, pulling a small needle into view, and bringing it towards her. Struggling hurt, which was a shame since she lost anyway. Her body went…limp, then slowly seemed to warm up. She felt tired and heavy, but the pain seemed to be…going._

 _Oh, she was dying._

She sat upright in bed, throwing the covers aside so she could feel the cold air on her skin. She was alone in her bed, even though she was sure- oh, she was back home. They'd already left the tower, a few days earlier. Her apartment wasn't anywhere near the level of luxury they'd just left, it was plain, a standard rental apartment with plain white walls and cheap grey carpet. She liked the little apartment, for what it was worth, it wasn't fancy but it was safe, and it was hers.

Money was going to run out though and eventually, she'd be evicted. It was difficult, climbing out of bed; the rigorous use of her body the past week had worn her out to the point her usual painkillers couldn't numb away the pain. It was only just after four o'clock in the morning but she knew she wouldn't be able to fall back asleep so she forced herself up out of bed and changed into a singlet and tights, and went running. It was raining, not hard, just enough to make her clothes and hair damp. When she returned to her apartment building, someone was outside, standing to the side with a cigarette in their hand.

She gave them a friendly nod before heading up to her room; the door to her neighbor's apartment down the hall was wide open, and someone was shouting; it was loud, angry yelling that made the hair on her neck stand on end. She walked slowly, inching closer to the door so she could her what was going on.

Some man was shouting at the woman who lived there, something about money he wanted.

"Good woman, we'll see you again next week." He said, and she could hear him sneering at the woman.

"No, you said once was enough!"

"Did I? I don't recall." The man said, stepping into the hallway, brushing past her. He didn't seem to even notice the woman standing in the hall.

"You should give it back." She said, unable to to stop herself talking. The man turned to face her, glaring at her. She hadn't noticed the small gun in his hand when he'd walked past but now she could see it, and she could see how fidgety the man's fingers were. Trigger happy; great.

"How about you shut up and fuck off?" He snarled, stepping closer to her, raising the gun.

She was quicker than the man expected and without a word, she was closer to him, slamming her closed fist into his jaw. The man fell back, dropping the envelope and gun he'd been holding. She kicked him sharply in his side to stop him from getting to his feet, so she could grab his collar and drag him down the steps and out to the front of the building. She threw him out onto the wet ground, looking at the other man who was waiting; another cigarette in his hand.

When she went back upstairs, someone was with the woman in the hallway; checking on her and her kids.

"Are you alright? Yes, good, you should go back inside. We will make sure nobody else is in the building. You'll be safe." A tall, skinny man with black hair was telling the woman. He looked weird, in a neat black suit and not wearing any armor.

"You shouldn't be here." She said, when the woman and her family had gone back into their apartment and closed the front door. "…You look really strange in regular clothing, by the way."

"Yes, so I've heard."

Loki looked at the woman who had worn the suit much like Tony Stark, though hers was not nearly as advanced as his own. She was a well built woman, though he did not notice just how scarred she was until now. Much of her skin was covered in small scars, with two rather large scars running from both of her shoulders, down the outer portion of her arm and ending just before her wrists. The scar on her right side was far worse, and did not seem to have healed as neatly as the other.

"What do you want?" She asked impatiently.

"Stark asked me to come speak to you, he said he has finalized the fabrication of some prosthetic, it is available for you if you wish to have it. A surgeon has been arranged, you simply have to be at the location at the specified time and date." Loki said, holding out a manila folder. Once she'd taken it, he disappeared in a flash of green light.

Two days later, she was walking into the tower or Stark Industries, a duffel bag hanging off of her shoulder. She followed the instructions on the piece of paper that had been in the folder and a few minutes later, she stepped out into a floor higher up in the tower; it looked nice. It wasn't over the top in it's décor but it was well decorated, and very well lit, which she liked.

"Good morning, can I help you?" A young woman sitting at the reception desk nearby asked, smiling brightly at her.

"I've got a meeting with…Pepper Potts?"

She held out the little card that she'd been instructed to use as a form of ID in the building. The woman looked over the card and nodded, still smiling.

"Great, follow me please; your appointment note says your meeting will be in the medical floor. I'll walk you up, it's a maze up there." The woman said. She placed a little 'back in five' sign on the desk and headed back to the elevator, with Clockwork following after her. They came to another office and the receptionist knocked sharply on the door before stepping into the room. There was a woman inside already with strawberry blonde hair, sitting behind a desk, speaking to Tony Stark who was pacing around the office while he spoke.

"Steve can't just do that! You know what I mean, Pepper? Pep? Don't ignore me, this is important!"

"Your appointment has arrived Miss Potts. Do you need me to walk you out, sir?" The receptionist asked, nodding when she was told "No, it's fine" and headed back out of the room, closing the door behind her.

"So, you're…" Pepper started, unsure of what name to use. She was intending _not_ to called the woman Clockwork, as Tony kept suggesting. "Sorry, I really don't have a name for you."

"I told you-"

"No Tony!"

She laughed at the two of them. It wasn't particularly funny so she wasn't sure why she laughed, she just did. Stark apparently wasn't expecting it, because he was _staring_ at her, like she'd just told him she spent her spare time cuddling sad dogs.

"You can call me Val; Clockwork is a nickname Barton gave me, that I haven't been able to get rid of."

The blonde lady, Pepper, smiled at this. "Great, so Tony will be the one to walk you through the actual prosthetic piece, I'm just doing the…everything else. You'll be driven from here to the facility the surgery will take place after Tony has discussed the piece with you, you'll have on-site care for two to three days afterwards, then we've arranged a room for you at a recovery unit a few hours away. Very nice, we went… _Tony_ went, a little overboard, so if it's a little over-whelming, we can arrange for something else."

"…Alright…" She said, accepting a chair that Stark had brought over for her, and sitting down. She already felt pretty over-whelmed, never mind after the surgery.

"The surgeon is very good at what they do and are very good at staying quiet about who they work on. Would you prefer a private doctor to help with your aftercare, or would Dr Banner be okay?"

"Banner's fine."

"Just don't play doctor with him as well.." Tony mumbled.

"What?" Pepper and her asked; though Pepper was mostly confused, while she was…a little surprised by the comment.

"… _Oh."_ She whispered when she realized what he meant.

"Did you know Steve was the first one to find out? He nearly walked in on you, actually he did, walk in on you making out anyway."

"Tony!"

"He made my house lock me out of my own medbay!"

"…It wasn't mentioned, when we were at your place. That anyone knew, I mean."

"Because you're both terrifying."

That made her laugh again; he wasn't technically wrong.

"While this is all being…discussed, are you okay with the surgeon checking some of the metal rods that are inside of you? We just want to make sure they're not…rusting inside of you or something."

"Umm, sure I guess, I never really thought about it. I try not to think about it, I suppose. Also, uhh this might be an issue but…you guys don't need insurance info or anything do you?"

"Of course not, the whole thing is funded by the 'keeping Tony Stark alive' fund." Pepper said, ignoring the hurt look she got from Tony. "It's a rather large fund."

"Pepper!"

"Good because…I technically…I'm technically not alive."

"…Alright, well, that's…fine." Pepper said, glancing at Tony.

"Not for like, bad guy crime stuff. I was in a plane crash and…they figured I was dead on impact. Not that they looke- anyway, good, I don't have insurance anyway."

"Not a problem, we leave in a few minutes, we can go over the design in the car…if you're ready?" Tony asked, looking at her, then to Pepper, then back to her.

"Sounds good." She said, and Tony Stark was beaming at her.

The drive to the surgeon's office was only a half hour, which was spent with Tony Stark rambling away about the technical aspects of the knee replacement he'd developed with Bruce Banner.

"Is your logo on it?" She asked during his rambling, causing him to stop and think over the question.

"What? The Stark Industries logo? No, why?"

"No reason."

It was only a few hours later that she was there, in the room waiting for the surgeon to come and speak to her. Luckily she hadn't eaten within the timeframe they needed, so they could get started when she was ready. She wasn't nervous about the surgery while they prepped, and she wasn't worried when they had her on the table, ready for anesthesia; she was just _lonely._ She always felt lonely these days, in a physical sense. Being touched hurt too much for it to happen often; The Doctor always had to give her some kind of painkiller, or whatever injection she'd created, to help her pain ease. This of course meant she lost much of the feeling in her skin, so the touch was never as good as it could be.

She focused on the viewing window, above the operating area, while they administered the anesthetic. That…intern, the kid she'd saved from the train, was there. She didn't know why, the team seemed to be protective of him; maybe he just hung out with them? He was alright; he didn't seem to treat her and The doctor as such…active threats, as other people did. Tony Stark seemed to be more okay around her now as well, now that she thought about it.

He'd said the kid had a question…her favourite superhero.

"Stark…" She said outloud, hoping it was audible. Her eyes were heavy now.

"…Uhh, everything okay?" Stark's voice came through the speakers.

"There was…a pilot, called Tom Fields…do you know the name?"

"…It rings a bell, I think he got arrested at some function we were at. Some army thing, he was getting a medal."

"…Why did he get arrested?"

"Punched me dead in the face, when I walked over to congratulate him on the medal he got."

She let herself laugh; he'd done it. _He'd done it for her. Good old Tom._

She woke up in a hospital bed, in a spacious white room, that was lit by the light peeking in from outside through a window to the side of the bed.

"Oh, you're awake!" A bright voice said just out of her view. "Mister Banner said the surgery went super well, which is you know, pretty good."

She turned her head to look at the teen who was perched on a chair in the corner of the room. He beaming at her, a mess of curly brown hair and big eyes. She fell back asleep staring at that kid, and woke up again when there was movement in the room; she didn't know long it had been.

It was light outside so…either only a few hours, or a full day. It was Dr Banner, that had been moving about the room. He was off to the side, writing on a piece of paper. She groaned as she sat her self up, propping herself up on her elbows.

"Oh, you're awake!" Banner said, facing her, obviously startled by the noise. "How are you feeling?"

"Thirsty, hungry and…overall awful." She said, coughing when she sat herself up completely. "Can I ask a question?"

"However many you like."

"…Why's the kid here?"

"Who? Peter?"

She nodded.

"The too bubbly kid, who follows Stark around."

"Yeah, Peter. He's here because…we've gotten a bit used to him being around and, since he helped design the knee replacement, we felt like he should be here. If that was a mista-"

"…I'm sorry, what?"

"What?"

"You said he helped design it."

"He helps Tony with his suits all the time, he helped design yours too. He's a smart kid."

"I'm getting sick of being surrounded by smart people…I should hang out with Barton more often."

The man laughed at that, warm and bright, which she liked; he didn't seem to mind her. Then again, she was post-surgery, she wasn't much of a threat. She spent a few more days there, munching away on ice chips and protein shakes, before she was moved to some kind of fancy resort rehab centre.

"…This is a joke." Was the first thing she said when she stepped into her little condo, with some help from Captain America. "This place is bigger than my entire fucking apartment, and this is the lounge room."

"We can arrange for something else, Tony just has a friend who works here as part of the rehab program, figured it'd be a good idea to have someone he knew close, in case you need anything."

"Nice of him, I guess." She said, throwing her small bag onto the couch. He'd carried her larger bag in for her. "Nice of you to not mention walking in on me and Doc either, by the way."

"Oh, uhhh…I really didn't mean to."

"It's fine, I'd just…been worried, about her."

"…Does she worry about you?"

She shrugged as her answer, and used her crutches to head into the bedroom at the back of the condo. She explored the house more once he'd left, finally settling on the wicker lounge on the back patio, looking out over…some kind of beach.

There was a knock at the front door, so she yelled out for whoever it was to come in.

"Oh man, your condo is way nicer than Clint's was." Peter said, coming out onto the verandah.

"I should hope so." She said with a smirk. "Stark got you checking on me?"

"Uhh….sure."

"…Does Stark know you're here?"

"…Yes?"

She smiled at the sky, watching a plane that was flying overhead.

"What did you want?"

"I wanted to…ask you some questions, about the suit."

She thought for a moment; did she want the kid to hang out at the house? Not really, but at the same time…the company would be nice. Not the touch heavy company she wanted – she always wanted that though – but it would be alright, she figured.

"Figure out some way for me to get something to eat and you can ask whatever questions you like."

"Okay! What do you feel like?"

"Your choice."

With that, the kid was off. She had no idea what he'd return with, it was interesting, thinking about what the kid might pick for them to eat. Apparently it was the fanciest pizza to have ever been made, as well as some kind of fancy lemonade. They drank lemonade out of champagne glasses but ate their pizzas from the boxes, as pizza should be eaten. Peter sat and chattered, rambling like Stark, while she watched the planes that flew overhead every now and then.

"Do you like planes?"

She looked over at the kid – who was actually a teenager, she'd been told – and took in how his head was sort of tilted to one side, watching her with steady eyes. She wondered what the kid thought of her; if it was just pretend or if he genuinely wasn't afraid of her. He'd seen her throw two men off of a train, over a cliff and into nothing. She turned away and looked back up at the sky.

"I was a pilot." She said, and the kid nodded. He'd brought a notebook and some pens outside with him, and was sitting on the ground with the book open in front of him. It reminded her of doing homework back in school, on the floor of her bedroom.

"How old are you?" She asked, glancing over at him.

"…Why?"

"Captain said you helped design my suit. I wouldn't have guessed you to be so young. I would've guessed like, college at least, not someone in high school, which is my guess."

"…Can we leave it at me being in high school?" He asked, looking at the ground; his voice had gone into a whisper.

"Sure kid, lemme see your notes." She grabbed the notebook from the ground and moved herself into a partially curled up position on the outdoor lounge and settled in, reading over the notes; she was glad she' let the kid stay. The company was nice.


	58. Chapter 58 - He Isn't Just Sticky

**Chapter 58**

 **He Isn't Just Sticky**

"How's her rehab going?" Steve asked, catching up to Tony. Tony had been walking along one of the stone pathways in the rehab facility; facility wasn't the right word. It was basically a medical resort. It was awesome. He mostly liked it because it was so open and bright, full of big gardens and huge trees that swept down and hung over the pathways. He thought it was a nice change to the stuffy hospitals people usually got stuck in.

"The doctors said they were worried she's been wanting to push herself. She's only been here a couple of days. Peter was allowed to use the place as the location for some work placement he has for school, she seems to be more comfortable with him around." Tony said, sipping on his takeaway coffee.

"Oh, I was just asking because her main physio guy said she'd decided to go for a walk, was wondering if maybe she was getting annoyed over not being as…able, as she was before the surgery."

"It'll pass."

"I know that-"

"I'm mostly telling myself, so I can try and convince myself I haven't ruined that woman's life."

"Tony!" The sudden urgency in Steve's voice made Tony stop and turn to face the super solider. "She wanted it, you didn't force her into it. _She_ flew to see you, you didn't drag her here and cut her apart. She has to have rehab, you know that."

They kept walking, Tony silent while he thought over what Steve had said to him. He mostly knew that Steve was right but there was something in the back of his head, telling him he'd destroyed this woman's life wife a replacement knee that hadn't really been tested. What if it was making the problems worse? She already had something where her heart should be, what the hell had he done to her?

"Tony, is that Peter?" Steve asked, pointing ahead; through a chain link fence, in a very out of bounds section, Peter was sitting on a concrete wall, overlooking the water. Clock was standing on the grass, where the wall ended at a large pillar. She was throwing what looked like rocks out onto the water, giving a little fist pump when one managed to skip across the water's surface.

"They shouldn't be in there, should they?" Steve asked, grinning at Tony. The man grinned back and the two of them climbed through the gate that been pried open and headed over to the two people by the water.

"-and the forests! Sweden had the prettiest forests, everything was always this bright, bright green. I mean crashing into it sucked but looking at it from a far was nice."

"Why did you crash into a forest?" Peter asked with a laugh.

"I told you I was a pilot."

There was a pause, then, Peter said.

"It doesn't sound like you were a very good one."

The woman let out a scoff and threw another pebble across the water; it skipped four times before sinking down into the water with a 'plop'.

"Next issue." She said, not looking at Peter.

"Power in leg is higher to assist with movement due to injury. Higher power seems to be causing imbalance, which may cause strain to the non injured leg." Peter's phone beeped from inside his pocket. He pulled it out to read the text from Tony while she thought out loud.

"I can't say I noticed it, it was a little weird getting used to being able to move so quickly though. User issue though, not anything to do with the suit itself."

 _Can'tUseAnIron: Turn around_

Peter adjusted his body, spinning around so he was completely facing Tony; Tony and Steve knew Peter was well balanced, he had to be to do the flips he did during fights, but seeing him spin around on that thin wall made Tony's heart stop for a moment. He noticed a duffel bag off to the side, zipped up but obviously fully packed.

"Were you leaving?" Steve asked; he'd seen the bag as well.

"I hate being here." She said without turning around. She didn't seem surprised to hear Steve talk, she must've known they were there. "I've healed my own wounds, done my own rehab and recovery without outside help for a long time. Having these doctors being so…gentle, like I'm fragile, is driving me insane. I'm…just not used to being around people, I suppose."

"…We can drop you off at the airport, get you a ticket to go home, if you want." Tony said after a moment of silence. "We need to stop by SHIELD on the way, you can wait in the car-"

"Do you think they'd let me in? I never got to go into the headquarters, before I got moved to the army."

"…I guess? Steve, can she?" Tony looked at the Steve, who was thinking.

Steve nodded after a moment of thought, snapping his fingers and smiling. "Peggy policy."

The rest of the team was already there, waiting for the debriefing. Clockwork was in the back of the room, after having been given a tour by Steve and Natasha. She was just waiting to be taken to the airport now. Fury didn't say anything about her being there, he didn't acknowledge her presence. Coulson gave her a small nod, which she returned. She was sititng in a seat with both of her legs elevated, her feet resting on a table nearby.

"What's the call about, Fury?" Tony asked from the desk he was leaning against.

"Reports of a HYDRA base, they seem to have copied plans from the heli-carrier. It's a dangerous, poorly crafted adaption of the planned they've managed to find. They're hoping to be airborne in the next few hours. We have no idea what the base is intended for, but their have been direct threats made if _any_ of the Avengers approach. That means _all_ of you. You do not approach until we can confirm the ship can't be used as some kind of make shift smashing machine, if they cut the power off over a major city." Fury explained, brining up some photos of the crudely made small helicarrier. "We've got reports from the sight squad of barrels full of a yellow liquid; until we know what it is, I am not having any of my agents near the ship. We can't risk a chemical attack. The weather is not what we want anyone flying in either; not with a storm as powerful as what we've got overhead."

Tony was the one who noticed her eyes look up from the screen on her phone. She rolled her eyes, and swung her legs off of the other chair she'd perched them on.

"I'm out fellas. It feels a little…weird, being here if I'm honest., I'll find my own way to the airport fellas. Thanks for getting me here anyway." She said, rest a hand on each of Natasha and Clint's shoulders, giving them a tight squeeze before leaving the room, heading out into the hallway.

"We have to do something!" Clint was arguing, Natasha nodding beside him. "They're no doubt planning to use whatever it is anyway!"

"I'll walk her out, might make the rookie agents less likely to try and gun her down. Not that anyone would ever do something so careless, of course." Tony said, stepping out of the room. She'd turned the wrong way when the door had shut, he'd watched her shadow under the door. He followed the hallway until he saw her at a door, swiping a card over the lock panel. It beeped once and flashed green, letting her into the pilot's room, which lead through to the SHIELD hangars.

"What are you up to?" Tony asked, as she grabbed a pair of pilot overalls from a rack and pulled them on over her tights and singlet.

"It's a gas." She said, trying the card on the door to the hangar; no luck. A red light and a sad beep came from the door.

"How do you know? Where'd you get that card?"

"Give it back to Barton for me later, will you?" She asked, trying the card again, to get the same result. "How long would it take them to respond to an alarm?"

"A few seconds. You're not really explaining anything."

Tony looked down when his phone beeped; Natasha's tone. She never messaged him, she actively tried not to.

 _ScaryandRed: 32345 door override, building wide._

Tony walked over to the door and found the number pad below the card scanner; the door gave a green light and a happy beep after he'd entered the code.

"Fucking super spies." He grumbled, pushing the door open, which she pushed past him to get through.

"Oh for- they let him back?" She hissed; Robertson was across the hangar, speaking to two agents. "Stark, keep him busy."

"What- oh come on." Robertson had already seen him, and was heading over. She'd managed to duck her face behind a plane and walk around the outer perimeter of the hangar.

"Stark, good to see you up and about." The man said, voice just a little too polite to be normal; it made Tony's head hurt.

"It's good to be up, and about, of course. Shame today isn't any better."

"They're still not letting you guys after that god awful mess of a helicarrier, then? I wouldn't worry about it, it'll crash and burn eventually, take care of itself." Tony watched over the man's shoulder; she'd found a small plane, covered by a neat white sheet. She pulled the sheet away and let it fall to the ground in a heap, while she stared up at the plane. It didn't look very SHIELD-esque, likely something they'd found on a mission and wanted to inspect.

"Can…I ask, you a question?" Tony wondered out loud, looking back at Robertson's annoyingly smug face.

"Of course, Mister Stark."

"Lady in the suit, what's her deal? You seemed surprised she was alive. We finally managed to get rid of her, but it's been on my mind. I'm a curious man."

"She was in an aircraft crash after stealing a plane from military ground. The outcome of the mission would have been the same without her presence, I see no need to hold her in high praise. I wouldn't blame yourself, Mister Stark, you had no idea what was going on with your weapons at the time."

"What have my weapons got to do with it?" Tony's eyes snapped back to the man; they'd strayed, watching her open the glass top of the plane. She glanced over at Tony, eyebrows raised.

 _I'm going; Fury can go suck an egg. This is our job._

"Her…team, was attacked with Stark Industries branded rockets, of some sort, when she was supposedly killed. An act of self sacrifice, apparently. She hasn't got a self sacrificial bone in her body, she was useless then and she'll be useless now. She wasn't cut out for it."

"…I see, thank you, sorry to bother you about it."

Tony said his goodbyes and when the man turned away, ran across the hangar to the plane. He managed to grab a helmet on his way, from a table and pull himself up and into the plane before the roof closed.

"…Stark, what the fuck?" She asked, with a sigh.

"I can have an Iron Man waiting nearby, since I forgot my suit in a case."

"…Do you have an iron man suit that goes into a briefcase?" She asked; alarms sounded as the hangar door began to open.

"…Yes?"

"…Dear god, you actually have a _suitcase._ " She said, laughing while she shook her head. "Wonders will never cease."

"So…how good are you at flying?"

"Oh, I faked my papers, I never passed." She said, non-chalantly. "Just _winged_ it, at the time. I was an army mechanic, wasn't cut out to be a pilot."

She was going through launch procedure, remembering it from her studying; it was second nature, even after being out of a plane for _so long._

"Oh um-"

"No way out, Stark. I didn't make you get in the plane."

SHIELD agents had filed out onto the hangar now, guns out, full gear on. Robertson was watching the plane, staring at Tony through the glass.

"You are not authorized to fly. Disembark the aircraft and give yourself over to SHIELD custody." A voice came over the speakers, pounding through the glass and into their ears. _Why was it so loud?_ "This is an order. Your flight will not be long if you take off. Hand yourself over now."

Tony suddenly noticed just how loud the plane was around him; when had it started? When had they started moving?

"Fucking christ are they gonna shoot us down?" She asked, obviously annoyed. "They gonna shoot Tony Stark out of the sky, while he's got no suit?"

"…Am I patched through to them?" He asked, watching as the open sky was getting closer. She flicked a few of the switches on the large panel in front of her.

"Are now, go for your life." She said, laughing to herself.

"Hello? Can SHIELD hear me?"

"Mister Stark?"

"Oh thank god. Please do not shoot this fucking plane down. I've got no suit!" He shouted the last part, when his body suddenly caught up with the movement of the plane and he lurched forward in his seat. His head and arms did anyway, his chest was caught by the sturdy strapping he'd clipped around himself.

"Mister Stark, are you in danger?"

"Only if you stop this fucking plane!"

There was more speed and suddenly, there was no ground beneath them, they were just surrounded by open sky and clouds. They shot forward, through a cloud and turned down, barrel rolling then swooping back up until they were level again.

"Uhhh, you're not still upset about the whole…Stark weapons thing are you?" He asked nervously, looking out at the sky.

"Relax Stark, you'll be fine. I'm a very good pilot." She said, clicking something on the control panel. "I just like making people nervous."

"…Obviously. What have they got?"

"It's a gas; Doc found them working on it years ago and destroyed their supply. Apparently they've made more. It requires high heat and pressure to be activated so, a high impact landing would probably do it."

"…They don't need it to fly, not far at least." He said, realizing what she'd figured out in the room. "Christ, we can't land it, can we? Not unless we're piloting it…even that pressure could set it off. Fuck."

"She'll be on that plane; she'll take it personally. She's very good at paying attention to what other groups are doing, she has to be."

"…Is that why Tom punched me in the face?"

"I told him to, before I crashed. I'm glad he followed through."

Tony heard a warning beep; something was behind them. Two somethings actually, black planes going by the camera feed, getting closer to them. He could see dark storm clouds ahead; there was also lightning, and he could _feel_ the thunder through the plane.

"…Are we going into _that?"_ He asked; _no fucking way._

"SHIELD agents aren't allowed to fly in non-optimal weather, they won't risk discharge for us. I hope." They dropped suddenly, losing the planes for a moment before they followed as well, close to the tree tops below them. They shot up again without warning, disappearing into the edge of the storm. The radar showed the planes following them for a moment, before turning back and leaving the storm behind. She passed a small keypad back to him, attached to the control panel by a long cable.

"Find the co-ordinates for the airship and enter them, I don't know far it is."

Tony pulled his phone out, looking at the photo he'd taken of the presentation Fury had given them on the issue. Fury hated it when Stark did that; too bad for him. In another moment, she had the location and adjusted their course.

It wasn't long until they left the storm and came out into open air; a huge area of stone and snow was in front of them, the airship within their vision.

"Oh great, gun turrets." She grumbled. "I can only see the one though."

"Can we take them out before we get on board?" Tony asked. The suit was still a little distance away. The airship was beginning to climb, higher into the sky, they needed to get on board before it starting moving towards any cities.

"Hey fly boys, how's it going?" Clint's voice came over the plane's audio.

"Clint? What the fuck?"

"Quinjet isn't far behind, we couldn't quite catch up because of the _raging storm_ you went through _."_

"Oops?" She offered, shrugging. She was starting to undo her safety strapping, pulling her helmet off and adjusting the pilot suit so it was snug around her shoulders. She grabbed the controls again and with a sudden jerk of her arms, they were going upwards, moving above the airship. It was similar to the helicarrier in that was flat coming out to one side, with the main hub on one end in an almost dome shape. They were above the dome, moving close to the turret, which had apparently noticed them and had changed it's aim. Tony could see someone on the flat part, firing from a single gun, not moving from where they were standing.

"Well, you were right about her being here."

"I'm always right about her. Unbuckle yourself, genius." She ordered, flicking various switches, lights coming on all over the control panel. The dome was closer than Tony liked, especially when the plane suddenly flipped, so that the roof was facing the dome. There was a sudden hiss, while he was busy undoing himself, then he saw the glass lid of the plane beginning to open.

"You are trying to kill me!" He shouted, and suddenly his body became loose.

"Hold your fucking breath, you idiot!" She shouted, then the lid fell away, crashing to the flat area below them and they fell after it. They landed against the dome with painful thuds, then slid down, following the angle of the dome. There was a crash above them, then an explosion; the plane had been hit by something, but the explosion had taken out the plane and the turret. Tony's suit flew by, grabbing Tony by the arms and slowing his descent. He came to a stop where the dome met solid ground, on his feet.

She slid down as well, her feet meeting the ground hard; she pushed herself up, using her legs to throw her weight forward, so she could launch herself forward into a guard who'd seen them land.

"What the fuck was that?! How am I alive?! How are we alive?!" Tony was shouting from inside the suit. He suddenly felt a lot safer, for some reason. "Do you not know how to land a plane?!"

"You can say thank you later!" She shouted back at him, fighting off another guard. Fighting without the metal was weird; she was enjoying it though.

"Hey beautiful, how are you doing?" Someone called out, smiling over at them from across the flat landing area. "What the fuck are you doing here, by the way?"

"She said you'd be here, and ta-dah, here you are." Tony said from above them, flying across the guards to shoot at them with less risk of shooting the women.

"I see."

"Shut it, have you neutralized it yet?" Clockwork asked, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah it's all done, landing will be safe and I…smashed up their computers and stations, hopefully they lost the research." The Doctor said, shrugging. "Who let you fly again?"

"She stole a fucking plane!" Tony shouted. "She stole a plane from SHIELD and it was terrifying! Now that I'm not in the plane, I'll admit it was pretty awesome. Fury almost definitely had an aneurysm."

"Yes it was." Clockwork said, punching someone in the jaw. Finally, the two of them had fought their way to each other. Clockwork looked at The Doctor, unsure what to do.

"Where's the suit?" The Doctor asked, jumping aside when a man leapt for her; he fell to the ground, not moving, a needle in his shoulder.

"Uhh….I don't think I need it now."

" _What?"_

"I got a new knee and…I think they fixed up some of those joint bars. I'm still in pain but, not like it was. Oh I'm also very much meant to be in post-surgery rehab, as well. Oops."

The Doctor simply stared, not moving. There was a roar from above, when a sudden wind picked from the quinjet flying past. Guns went off to their side; more guards had come from within the dome, moving closer to them. Bullets began to fly around them, which was a shame, since they weren't wearing any form of armor. Clockwork just had her pilot's suit over the singlet and tights she'd been wearing earlier, and The Doctor was wearing neat black pants and a cropped jacket over a white shirt. With a sudden crash, Tony Stark landed on one knee in front of them, facing the approaching guards. He stood up quickly, firing beams at the guards; he was able to take out a couple at a time, but there were a lot of guards coming towards them.

"Alright muscles, what do we do?" The Doctor asked, looking at Clockwork.

"Why are you asking me?!"

"You seemed pretty confident in what you were doing!"

"Fuck you. We need to get inside and find the pilot's controls."

"You and Captain America could be friends!" The Doctor shouted over the sound of bullets hitting the metal suit in front of them, loading her little gun back to full. "You could talk about shitty ways to land a plane!"

The Doctor, apparently satisfied with her newly loaded ammo ducked under Tony's raised arm and waited until the last beam had left the suit before standing up and raising her own arm. The gun fired the needles quickly, with a small reload time between them. The guards closest to them began to drop, some dropping in unmoving heaps and some convulsing on the ground.

Others began to drop, from arrows sticking out of their sides. Clint and Natasha had dropped down from the jet to join the fight. The jet flew overhead a second time and three more people jumped out, landing amongst the ongoing hostilities. The jet's autopilot kicked in, so it remained a distance away, keeping itself close by in case it was needed.

"Barton, where would the pilot's area be!?" Clockwork shouted over the crowd, weaving through the fight, avoiding punches and bullets.

"Why are you asking me?!"

"Top floor, near the back!" Natasha shouted, taking a man a lot larger than her down, she helped Clint take the man's weapons, throwing them off to the side without their ammo. Clockwork moved through the crowd, following the patches thinned out by Stark's beams. Someone was in front of her, electricity arcing across their knuckles, jumping over the metal cage like things they were wearing over their fists.

 _Oh, I am having those._

She ran forward, matching the other person, she dropped at the last second and threw her leg out into the person's legs, knocking them off balance and sending them crashing into the ground nearby. When she was back on her feet, the person was stuck to the ground in a mess of…spiderwbebs?

Oh, right, the insect dude. She yanked the metal cages off of the person's fists and pulled them onto her own, adjusting the straps until they fit snug. It was much easier to get through the crowd now that she could simply shock people out of the way. She saw the small gap, then the even tighter packed group of fighting ahead of her, Captain America and the Winter Soldier between her and what she really didn't want to go through. So, she changed her plan.

She ran, picking up speed and leapt up, throwing herself so she landed on the Winter Soldier's back. She was only there for a moment, before leaping again and springing herself up so she could land on a small flat outcropping on the dome, where there was a large glass panel. Someone followed her, landing beside her on the little ledge.

"Nice jump, how's the leg?"

"Sore, can you break the glass?"

"Sure!"

She wasn't really expecting Spiderman to be anything but sticky and annoying; she definitely wasn't expecting him to be so _strong._

He threw his fists into the glass, breaking the glass panel and its metal casing away from the dome wall, sending it falling and crashing into the floor below them. He jumped down and webbed the door that lead outside, keeping any guards out, then she jumped down, landing in a simple roll and getting back up to her feet.

"You're pretty fucking strong, for an insect." She said, throwing the metal cages to the ground and looking at the wall of controls in front of them. "What the hell is all this?!"

"What do we want?" Spiderman asked, looking over at her. "Also, arachnid."

"I need to know how high we are. We won't be able to easily land, so it'll be a little…more aggressive."

"What if we land in the water? There's a lake nearby."

Peter wasn't sure if he liked the way she smiled at his idea, but she seemed to at least like what he'd said.

"I need Stark in here." She said, moving closer to the wall to find what she needed.

"Iron Man, please join us in the dome." Spiderman said; it didn't take long for the suit to fly into the dome and land nearby.

"I appreciate the break from the fight but, what do you want?" Tony asked, his faceplate away so he could breathe some fresh air.

"Found it!" She said to herself, finding a series of wheels on the wall nearby. "We're gonna wing a landing, idea from the insect."

Tony heard the sigh from behind the Spiderman mask and smirked, then opened his eyes in realization at what she said.

"She's neautralized it, it's not harmful anymore but this thing landing on a fucking town will be. You need to go out there and when I'm ready, kill the power to the engines, or just blow them the fuck up, both work."

"How many are there?"

"Four, but we only need to take out two, the last two are only there to even out the lift power, they won't keep us airborne. If the pictures your boss showed us were correct."

"Uhhh-"

"Stark!"

"Alright, alright! How do we know? Also Fury isn't my boss."

"They have alarms, I'll sound an alarm for when I'm ready."

"Gotcha, let's go bug boy."

"Ugh, come on dude."

She was alone again, adjusting their flight path and soon, they were moving forwards rather than upwards, creeping closer to the large body of water. She found a handgun on a table nearby and held it aimed at the control panel, the hand piece for the speakers in her other hand.

"Attention all Avengers and Doctor. Grab a hold of something, right the fuck now." She said and fired the gun, emptying the chamber into the control panel. Alarms rang out overhead as the systems failed, sparks flying out of the panels. The loss of height was sudden and rapid; they were falling towards the water. The two backup engines couldn't provide enough lift to keep them airborne, not even to help lessen the fall speed. The dome end hit the water first, sinking beneath the water's surface. She could see beneath the water, all the fish and the plants that were hidden away by the murky water, then she was back up above the water and seeing the sky again. Glass began to crack and burst open, letting water flood into the dome. She should run but she couldn't seem to make her legs move; she was staring at the water.

She turned when the door burst open with a loud crack, the metal doors falling off of their hinges. Captain America was there, with his shield held outwards from having been used to smash the doors open. Now she ran, leaving the very flooded dome and moving out to the flat landing area. The dome end sank, while the flat area creaked and cracked, separating from the heavy dome end and breaking away, falling to the water and taking them all with it. They were all wet, and exhausted but the flat chunk of airship was floating and they were alive. Clint was the first one to cheer, followed by the rest of the Avengers, and Spiderman. The Doctor was standing there, drenched in water; she reminded Clockwork of a cat dunked in a bath and left to run around until it dried.

"There are other ways to land, you know." The Doctor said, staring at Clockwork who was smiling back at her. "What?"

Clockwork simply walked over and wrapped her arms around The Doctor, pulling her in tight so she could kiss the other woman. The Doctor grinned into the kiss and returned it, wrapping her arms around Clockwork's waist, ignoring the sounds of approaching helicopters.


	59. Chapter 59 - She's A Superhero

**Chapter 59**

 **She's A Superhero**

" _Alright, let's head off." The main SHIELD agent told the others. One of them had her arms behind her back, twisting her shoulders uncomfortably._

" _Sir we haven't processe-"_

" _Processing? I'm not wasting my time processing her. Have you seen her? She's no threat, she'll kill herself within the month. Cut her loose and let's go home." The leader told the other and they hesitantly followed the others, leaving her on a stretch of road in the French countryside, with no vehicle or phone. She watched the SHIELD van pull away and drive off down the dirt road, keeping her eyes locked onto the man sitting in the passenger seat._

 _SHIELD._

 _She walked back into town, then hitched a ride to the middle of Paris, so she could find out more about who and what SHIELD was. It seemed SHIELD wasn't the only one who thought she was a joke; most of the people she asked for people laughed at her, told her to fuck off or threatened her._

 _The last one she tried, put his hand on her thigh and suggested favors for information, which she pretended to consider._

" _After a drink, yes?" She said, laying on what french accent she could manage._

" _Ah miss, you are supposed to use poisons yes? You will drink my wine and I shall drink yours." The man said, expecting her to refuse. She nodded and handed her glass over, picking his up once he'd taken hers. She sipped the cheap wine, glancing to the side at the man's nearby bodyguards. He was wealthy, high up in the local crime world._

" _I must ask Madame; why do you wish to know about the americans? They are not a nuisance to us here, and definitely not any of your personal concern, as I imagine you are not of theirs." The man said, placing his empty glass on the table. He grinned at her, wondering if the words hurt her._

" _Personal, I don't appreciate being manhandled by americans, it is…disgusting."_

" _A woman of taste then, perfect. Perhaps I was wrong Madame, you clearly did not poison my drink, I mistrusted you."_

" _Sir I am insulted, of course I would not poison your drink. You misjudged me." She said, smiling at the man. He'd been unsure of the woman with deep cheekbones and short black hair, considering her too masculine but, she was pretty nonetheless. Some fun before returning to his wife at home._

" _I poisoned them both." She said before placing her empty glass beside his on the table and folded her legs, leaning back in her seat and looking at the man. "Now, what is SHIELD?"_

" _You- you stupid woman! You can do nothing with the information if you are dead as well!"_

" _I learnt about a side effect of poisoning, reading some old crime books. If someone is exposed to a poison over time, in small doses, it can cause a sort of…tolerance."_

" _Is there a tolerance for a bullet in your skull?" The man growled, beckoning to the nearest bodyguard._

" _Then you will receive no antidote, and you will die."_

" _You can have your information, then you will be used by my men and left in an alley to rot." He snarled, holding a hand up to signal to the guard to stop. "SHIELD is an American organization. They work to get rid of…powerful, worldwide criminals. People like Hawkeye, Black Widow; they don't bother with want to be chemists. They have a list, like the FBI, top ten most wanted people. Only difference is the FBI don't go after master assassins and circus freaks."_

" _Circus freaks?"_

" _Hawkeye! Belongs in a fucking freak show, using a bow and arrows to kill people! Now then, what did I say about what would happen to you? Cure me woman, and let's finish this."_

" _You know, the FBI will accept overseas tips." She said, standing up from her seat but keeping her eyes on him. She'd practiced keeping her eyes open, to not blink. Apparently people found it unnerving, which is why she'd decided to try it. She adjusted her suit jacket and ran a hand through her hair._

"… _What are you saying, you stupid girl?"_

" _Shame, you weren't on the top ten list, so I got no reward money but, they still took the tip. Don't worry, they won't have you for long."_

 _A window crashed open nearby, shattering and sending glass over the floor. Men and women in full raid gear began to fill the room, weapons raised and aimed. It took a little longer than she'd hoped to finish giving the statement; she'd been hoping to finish her meeting with the crime lord a lot earlier. The FBI raid timing had been a perfect coincidence and she was saved from anymore stupid conversation. They sent her home with an escort, and two days later they were happy there would be no retaliation against her from local crime lords so they gave her a farewell once they finished their security shifts then headed back home; they'd be back in the U.S. in under a day._

 _It made the news three days later; he'd been sitting in the courtroom during his trial, when he just slumped to the side and fell out of his chair, dead on the ground. No noise, no sudden heart attack or stroke. Nothing that could be found to determine death, his heart had just stopped. That night, his wife showed up on her doorstep._

" _Mada-" She shut the door in the woman's face, not wanting to discuss it, not wanting to be shouted at. She had work to do, there was no time for interruptions. She finished packing and moved her belongings to an empty warehouse she'd bought for almost nothing, all in cash, out in the countryside. The next morning, she drove into the centre of Paris and dressed in her catering garb, grabbed her metal briefcase then headed to the museum she'd found to be the event location. Nobody seemed to notice her, amongst the frantic shouting and panicking staff. The security presence was obvious but they seemed…distracted. She discovered it was because there were numerous high profile guests who had all been equally demanding. The security guards were constantly called away to help deescalate a situation when someone began shouting at venue staff._

 _She found the storage room they kept the fire system tank in; she had to sit in a corner out of eyesight and rest for an hour. The twice a day injections had taken their toll on her energy levels, she'd been exhausted since she'd started administering them. They were required though; she couldn't avoid them. Not if this was going to work out with her being alive at the end. They were a precaution, she doubted they'd be needed but better safe than sorry._

 _She found a paper manual for the water tank in a cupboard in the room and flicked through until she found the information she needed, then she set to work opening up the water chamber so she could empty the various liquids from their glass jars, then packed everything back into her briefcase and wiped everything down with a special cleaner she'd made before leaving the room and putting everything back into her car. She changed into a pair of tight jeans and a grey jacket in a public bathroom and threw the chef's clothes into a bin on the way back to her car._

 _She was sitting in a local café a few days later when she heard the news on the tv; the waitress stopped to turn the volume up before going back into the kitchen to take her breakfast order to the cooks._

" _There have been deaths of numerous European celebrities following a fire at a French art museum this past week. The total body count sits at fifteen though there is no way to tell how many more lives will be lost. An investigation is underway regarding the water storage connected to the fire system pipework."_

 _She was very pleased with that; she bought herself an extra pastry as a reward before heading back to her warehouse. She'd barely been back for fifteen minutes before the door was kicked in and a group of people in familiar uniforms stormed into the metal building. She gave an annoyed sigh and began to pull her coat on over her arms, adjusting it on her shoulders before turning to face the agents._

" _I thought you were finished with me"." She said slipping her hands into the coat pockets, feeling the little remote in one of the pockets. The canisters were hidden inside various containers in the warehouse, and under old blankets and boxes._

" _You're being taken into custody for the attack in Paris, hand yourself over easily and this won't take longer than it needs to."_

" _Oh? What proof have you got?"_

" _Who else could have tried to pull something like that off? Shame, you didn't get all of the targets though. What, fifteen out of three hundred guests? Not very good form, is it?"_

" _I did not try to pull something off, I did pull it off. I had no target number in mind. I would have been happy with three people. They weren't the targets."_

" _Oh, what, it was a test?"_

" _I needed to get you idiots here." She said, clicking the button to turn the canisters on. The canisters began to work, filling the room quickly with a bright yellow gas. "That idiot mob boss was the test dummy, and it worked, didn't it?"_

 _The agents began to cough, dropping their weapons to cover their mouths and noses._

" _Y-you…" The man at the front of the group tried to speak. The same one who had told them to leave her._

" _You had me in custody once, didn't you? You told them to let me go, you told them I was nothing. I don't appreciate being touched by American men, so you upset me quite a bit."_

" _T-this…was…payback?" The man choked out then finally gave up on standing and fell in a heap, his body shaking once he'd hit the floor._

" _Yes, I'm very petty." She said, grabbing a large leather duffel bag from the makeshift bed in the corner and stepping over the men who were on the ground. The footage was just a blurry mess of yellow clouds, moving with the gentle breeze the open door let in. it took three days for the gas to clear out enough that other agents could enter to retrieve the bodies left behind; it seemed to seep through their filtration masks when they tried to enter hours within the deaths of the agents._

 _It was six months later, when she was on her way back towards her pick-up vehicle that she found the army brat in the mud._

Loki hadn't meant to go into her mind when he teleported with her, returning her to the long driveway which lead to her house in Italy. The wind here was far warmer and it was…brighter, than where they'd been, since they were no longer beneath storm clouds.

"That was…weird, do you mind not doing that again?" She asked, the venom in her voice had returned to full. Apparently her demeanor in the jet when they'd rescued her and Stark was not quite how she usually acted. "I'm sure you've got plenty of your own shitty memories to go through. Lips sewn shut, fucking a horse, if the stories are true. "

"It wasn't intentional." Loki shot back, tired. He'd been waiting on the jet, in case any of the team was…hurt. He did not mind being the medic, and he understood their reasoning; they wanted to limit how much of him SHIELD saw. He was still frustrated however, at being the travel service for the strays they seemed to pick up. "I was somewhat under the impression you and the…mechanical woman, were a pair but Stark said she was not to be brought here."

"She has to finish, well, restart her surgery recovery and actually let her knee heel."

"And then?"

"What do I know? What do you _care?"_

"I am simply curious."

"And I'm curious as to how your brother got all the blonde hair and bulging muscles, and you ended up looking like _you._ I wasn't going to say it out loud but here we are. Go home." She spat and turned, walking up the driveway towards her house. Loki noticed how out of place she looked amongst the rural landscape of green trees and deep browns in the fields, even the house was made of bricks painted white and brown, with wooden details. She was dressed in all black, her short hair smoothed back but it still stood voluminous on her head. She stopped at the top of the driveway, but didn't look back towards Loki.

"Stark's kid asked who Clock's favourite superhero was, did she ever tell him?" She called out.

"As far as I am aware or care, no."

"She…found out, about that guy Coulson, how he came back to life."

"And…?"

"She thought that was pretty fucking impressive."

With that she disappeared over the top of the hill, leaving Loki alone in the large grassy field. He stood there for a few minutes, enjoying the warm air before teleporting himself back onto the quinjet, which was on it's way back to the tower with the team. Most of them were laying on a bench or the floor, asleep or almost asleep. Stark and Rogers were the only one sitting upright, in the two pilot's seats at the front of the plane.

"She didn't actually kidnap you, did she?" Steve asked, which Tony shook his head at.

"No I climbed in, I don't think she really wanted me there. You know, until they wouldn't shoot the plane down with me in it. I can't believe they didn't leave together, what the hell?"

"Ah, that reminds me. Young Peter?" Loki asked. Peter was laying on the ground reading a book. He looked over at Loki with an eyebrow raised.

"Yeah?"

"Her favourite hero is Agent Coulson."

Tony and Clint burst into laughter, while the others just shook their heads. Peter was looking at Loki, grinning. They flew home in silence; they all needed some peace and quiet.

Pepper managed to get Tony a ticket to the award ceremony that was being held the next day. He arrived just on time, walking in with the other party goers, looking the part like he used to. Clockwork had refused his invitation to attend the party, she didn't want people to know she was alive, she was happy not being bothered. She gave permission for him to tell Tom, and only Tom because she knew he wouldn't tell anyone else.

He didn't realize Pepper had also arranged for him to give a speech but there he was, walking up to the stage with the quick paragraph he'd written on the drive here, after she'd told him. From the podium he could see Tom Fields sitting at his seat, arms crossed over his chest, glaring at Tony. The man besides Tom was his direct supervisor and he looked as if he was trying to calm Tom down, so they could avoid another scene. Steve was there as well, in case Tom did lose his shit at Tony.

"Well, good evening everyone. This is a little…last minute, I'll be honest. I've been busy recovering, getting used to…being back, again. You know, after a while, every kidnapping seems to become…almost routine. My most recent one, however, I learnt something." Tony paused, and noticed Bucky at the back of the crowd. _Why was he here? Shit. Keep going Tony, they're watching._ _Change the speech, don't mention he's an inspiration for the foundation as well._

"This time I learnt about a pilot, who was killed by enemies using weapons made by own company. Valerie Watts is a woman after my own heart. She had a damaged knee, and the replacement she was given was shoddy and essentially, was a test piece. She should never have been given it, she should never have been made to suffer life, after the surgery that ruined her knee. Still, she persisted; she enlisted with the army, ending up as a mechanic in the airforce and…eventually, she was dismissed after a short time after becoming a pilot. All she wanted to do, was to fly planes with her team, so when she learnt about a research team being captured during the meeting where she was dismissed, she climbed back into a plane she had no right being in, and she went with her team to save that group of researchers."

Tom was sitting rigid now, back straight, eyes focused on Tony. Steve and Bucky were both watching Tom, waiting for anything that Tom did that might be aggressive.

"This woman, Valerie Watts, flew off with her team in a plane she technically stole. She was the first one to see the rockets and she was the first one to avoid them, the rest of her team copying her movements. She was avoiding Stark Industries rockets, flying to keep the research safe and…when the rocket launcher became airborne, she realized her plane's weapons were jammed." He sucked in a breath. "She told her team that it her last few years with them had been good, not fun, but good. She then flew her plane into that helicopter. Not surprising, her plane and the helicopter went up in flames. It feels like everyday I keep living, I learn more and more about what happened with the weapons I was creating and I truly, truly hate it. Rather than wallow, or tell myself it wasn't my fault because I didn't know, I've decided to keep myself busy. From this Friday, the offices for the newest branch of Stark Industries Medical. It will help to cover the costs of new prosthetic, for anybody who needs them but can't afford them; we have decided to name it the Watts Wing, in her honour."

He held up his glass of ice cubes and lemonade.

"Thank you, Valerie, for kicking ass."

He sucked down his drink, ignoring the thunderous applause from the crowd, and left the stage to head straight outside to the huge balcony that wrapped around the upper floor of the hall the event was being held in. He had sort of expected Tom to follow, he had sort of expected another punch. He didn't expect it to be so sudden, or to hurt so much. He fell back against the railing, gasping when his side struck the metal railing.

"You don't get to use her fucking name, not for your PR bullshit." Tom spat, standing over Tony who was still leaning against the railing, clutching it tight with one hand. Footsteps from the doorway to the balcony told him that Steve and Bucky had found them.

"I'm not-"

"Shut up!" Tom shouted, stepping back from Tony. "She was a damn good pilot, she's not some fucking name to sell your business, no matter how helpful it is."

"I got told…" Tony said, standing up, holding his hands out to hopefully keep Tom away. Tom snorted and turned away, heading back towards the door to go inside. "You know, nothing in her papers mentions how fucking terrifying she is."

"Was." Tom said without turning around.

"She told me to apologise to you, on her behalf. Said your team got matching tattoos; hers got scraped off by something in the crash. She misses it."

"She's dead!" Tom shouted, spinning to face Tony. Tony fished the little chain and pendant from his pocket and held it out towards Tom. The man walked over slowly and took the little pendant; a silver disc, with a messy clock face carved into it.

"She…when she was our mechanic, she always told us off for being late. We never paid attention to it, big hot shot pilots, you know? Anyway, we started turning up on time, even early sometimes, for everything. Found out she'd set every single clock in our hangar and our planes, she even managed to change our phones when we weren't looking, set them ahead by ten minutes. I think we kinda just…accepted her then, we were stoked when she got to fly but…something about her previous job, they said she couldn't do it anymore, so we argued and they said it was fine, ended up dismissing her anyway…you know, then she stole a plane."

Tom slipped the pendant into the pocket of his suit pants and nodded at Tony.

"I'm going to pretend she's just…dead. I've done my grieving, we all did. It'll be easier on us if we believe she's dead then the fact she was alive in that forest, waiting for help. Is she…how is she?"

"She got a new knee."

"…That's good. She deserves it."

"Yeah…if I told you she helped save the world, would you believe me? She'd hate me if she knew I said it but, she's a fucking superhero."

"She always was, Mister Stark." Tom said and gave a nod to Tony, as well as Steve and Bucky before heading back into the building to rejoin the party. Tony went home immediately after that, to shower and try to get some sleep. He stared at the ceiling, imagining the woman who had worn that suit before he went anywhere near it. It had been old, well used and rusted. It suited the wearer to a tee, which made him think about his own suit. Flashy, well built, strong; why didn't he match his suit as well as she suited hers?

The conversation with Tom played over in his head as his eyes closed, picturing the man who still, after so long, would punch Tony Stark in the face to defend a dead woman. Clockwork was back home now, with daily help from a physio who would eventually finish the job and forget anything she knew about the blonde woman. The Doctor had fucked off back home; hopefully forever. Tony fell asleep, he had never really recovered from the most recent kidnapping. He needed some rest.

 _She's a fucking superhero._

 _She always was, Mister Stark._


	60. Chapter 60 - An Adorable House

**Chapter 60**

 **An Adorable House**

Steve and Bucky ran down the corridor, chasing the loud footsteps they could just hear. Tony had shut off the power already, so the base was totally dark apart from the small emergency lights sunk into the ceiling at even spaces. They'd been chasing the suspect originally, now they were running to find an exit. Something had set off an explosive in the base, which to them felt very _self-destruct;_ it felt very movie-cliché to Tony and he hated it.

They could see the doors ahead of them; whoever they were chasing was gone. Not something to worry about at the moment. The doors creaked and flew back, leaving their hinges behind and crashing to the ground behind Spiderman.

"Wait, I thought you were chasing someone?" He asked, shaking his head as the two super soldiers raced past him. The three of them made it onto the jet just as the base began to explode. The air shook around the plane as they took off.

"Well, that could have gone better." Clint said and Bucky snorted. "How'd that guy get away?"

"No idea, he was just not in the hallway all of a sudden." Steve said, collapsing into a seat.

"Let's go home and sleep, today is a total wash." Tony said, setting course for the tower and settling into his seat, watching the sky fly past. It had been snowing for a few days now and the city looked…breathtaking, is what Peter had called it. Tony had to agree.

"Alright, so is everyone in for Norway tomorrow?" Tony called out as they landed in the hangar. Everyone gave a chorus of yeses, Peter included; his school district had enacted some kind of unsafe school code, because of the snow so he had the rest of the week off.

Peter ran off to his rom to shower and warm up a bit; the suit was self warming but the wind had still snuck through, just a bit. They'd have to work on that. While he washed off, his mind wondered, thinking back to the fight on the airship. Apparently some of the bad guys were aware of Tony Stark's intern having been kidnapped, so they decided to taunt Iron Man, which was…not a great idea, though not for the reason they expected.

" _Sorry, can you repeat what you just said?!" The Doctor called out, looking at the man who had been shouting at the Iron Man suit._

" _I don't recall hearing about the intern being returned! Must be a shame, knowing someone more powerful than Stark has him! His new owners must be having fun."_

" _Owner?" Tony had asked, suddenly very insulted. "Hey-"_

 _It wasn't often she attacked hand to hand, she never felt the need. This time she launched herself at the man, knocking him to the ground. She wasn't actually strong, she was a stick of a person, she relied on sudden movements to stun people. She pushed the needle into the man's neck with her own hand, watching as the man realized what had happened. Tony's suit picked up the audio, and Peter had heard it as well; he had no idea if the other team members had as well._

" _Should've kept your fucking mouth shut, I happen to be quite fond of that kid." She hissed to the man, standing up and walking away to rejoin the fight with her little gun. Tony noticed how she seemed to be more…calculated now, not really pausing in between shots._

 _...Wait, did she just defend his intern?_

 _Shit._

Peter smiled at the thought then stopped, imagining her finding out about Flash. That could end very poorly, mostly for Flash, definitely for Flash.

"Hey Clint, weird question." Peter said when he found the others in the kitchen, having lunch before they headed off for Norway.

"…What?"

"What would happen if Clockwork or The Doctor found out about Flash, you think?"

"She doesn't." Steve said, shooting a warning glance at Clint, who was grinning. "Right, Clint?"

"Oh, by the way, I totally drank some of that milkshake." Peter said, grabbing a bottle of juice from the fridge.

"Excuse me?!" Clint shouted, getting to his feet. "Don't say that, look at me!"

Peter turned slowly, eyebrows raised at Clint, taking a sip from the bottle of juice.

"I drank like, three mouthfuls of it Clint. Then I realized it was chocolate and it was gross, and that was it."

"Tony's gonna be pissed." Clint said in a whisper, as Tony stepped out of the elevator.

"Definitely, whatever it is, why am I mad?"

"Peter drank some of the milkshake!" Clint said, pointing accusingly at Peter. "You told me you didn't have any!"

"You what?!" Ton shouted, dropping his armful of clothes onto the ground and darting across the room to Peter. "Are you mad?! You didn't know who she was!"

"She could've killed you!" Clint shouted. Bucky and Steve returned from their rooms, where they'd gone to change into new clothes before Peter had revealed his secret to Clint.

"Peter just because some woman gives you a milkshake, doesn't mean you have to drink it!" Tony shouted.

"…Oh, he did drink some of it after all? He's a teenager, an attractive woman told him to do something so he did it, big surprise." Bucky said, grinning at Peter.

"Um, ew, Barnes!" Clint shouted.

"She's not that attractive, shut up! Not enough for Peter to do something so stupid." Tony said, looking at Steve. "Steve, tell Peter off! He isn't taking us seriously!"

"Don't bring me into this!"

"Stark, you would've kicked a puppy if Clockwork promised to flex in front of you." Bucky said. Steve paused, and nodded in agreenance. Tony stared at them both, before being distracted by Friday's voice.

"Video and audio footage saved, sent to known contact number for The Doctor. Contact information now deleted."

Peter was smiling at them, trying not to laugh.

"Agent Barnes comment saved and sent forward to Valerie Watts." Friday also announced, which made Bucky and Steve laugh.

"Who…is Valerie Watts?" Clint asked, frowning at the ceiling.

"Tony…used her real name in his speech…" Steve said, choking back laughter so he could speak. "Valerie Watts _is_ Clockwork."

"I don't know why Friday sent that, she already knew what you thought." Peter said, finishing his juice and throwing the bottle into the recycling bin.

"No she didn't! Did she? Shit." Tony said, caught off guard by the comment. "Friday why would you send that?!"

"I believe the words Miss Watts used were " _Stark thinks I look good, I'll prove it you, you jealous brat"_ when she was speaking to The Doctor in the medbay."

"…Shit." Tony said, leaning against the dining table, feeling defeated.

"…Well, now that that's…out in the open, Peter-" Peter laughed, cutting Clint off. "I didn't drink any."

Steve and Bucky just laughed again and headed off to the jet; the rest of the team followed, Peter included, and they began their trip to the Asgardians. Thor greeted them, his mother standing beside him, beaming at the group of heroes as they disembarked their jet. Loki frowned at the t-shirt Peter was wearing; it was not the one he had made for the child, though it was similar. It was a dark pink, almost a dark salmon, with a metallic gold…clock-face on the breast pocket. He joined his family and watched the team walk towards them.

"We're not discussing the shirt." Tony said in warning, looking tired. "I'm just warning you before you try it."

"He looks...more excited to be here than last time, that's for sure." Loki said, smirking at Peter, who was busy talking to Bruce.

"He feels a little more…protected, I think."

"Oh?"

"Crazy Doctor lady defended him in that battle, you know, because she's a fucking psycho. Don't tell her I said that."

Loki rolled his eyes but smirked, walking beside Frigga as they lead the team to where they would be sleeping. The huts were small but not cramped, each with a single bed covered in plain white fabrics. There were four huts and Frigga explained; one was for Natasha and Clint, one for Steve and Bucky, one for Bruce and the last one was for Peter and Tony.

"My sons thought you may like to share your space with someone you feel most comfortable with. You are here on pleasant work but, it can be hard to be away from home." Frigga explained. "We were unsure, Healer Banner, who you may rest with. The hut has a single bed, as I thought perhaps you would enjoy some time to yourself, to get some quiet."

"I think she's saying something about us, without saying it." Clint whispered to Steve, who nodded.

Frigga only smiled at them, leaving them to catch up when she left to check over some royal matters.

"Brother-" Thor was cut off by a nasty glare from Loki. "You said you would ask them!"

"And I changed my mind."

"Loki-" Bruce said, sucking in a breath when Loki turned the glare towards him. "What's happened?"

There was a shimmer, much like when Loki changed to his armour, only this time a small silver band appeared around Loki's neck.

"I understand you hiding it from Mother, she would simply panic but I know hiding it drains your magic. You must let it replenish." Thor told Loki; it seemed to be a conversation they'd had already.

"What is it? You haven't worn it before." Tony said, stepping closer to look at it.

"I believe it is modelled after something we used to have on Asgard." Loki said, stepping back from Tony. "We knew them as thrall collars, though the man who invented them was…upset, when his creation was met with anger rather than thanks. It is…much like a collar you would put on a dog, I suppose. It is in a sense, an obedience collar, though far more painful if it is not obeyed."

"…What the fuck?" Tony asked, staring at the metal band. "How is it…painful?"

"Usually through electric shocks. Though we do not really know much about this one as it is simply a crude recreation. We discovered it by accident, hunting for the man who had Peter thrown over the cliff. We believe he was the one to have created it, in some kind of…attempt, to return us to the glory of our previous home." Loki said, staring at the others, daring them to comment.

"Well, what do we do? Can we get it off?" Clint asked, glaring at the collar.

"From what we know, the only way the collars were originally intended to be removed was to be taken off of the person's neck, after decapitation."

"Oh." Clint said in response.

"Loki has not told you all the…rest. The collar seems to require a…" Thor looked at Loki guiltily before contuing. "…a master, or it will pick one on it's own. There are many people here who still do not like Loki, and we fear what may happen if they are picked."

"Peter." Bucky said, making everyone look towards him with wide eyes, especially Peter. "What? Peter's probably the least likely of us to do anything suss, even if we don't mean to. He can just make Loki help him with homework or something."

"…If he does not mind, I don't see what ill it could do." Loki said slowly, looking at Peter. "Perhaps we can arrange a gift, for his help."

"I…umm…I don't have to _do_ anything, do I?" Peter asked nervously.

"No, it simply requires someone to have a sense of authority over me. And truthfully, I do not fully…enjoy the idea of the others having it."

Tony almost felt insulted but, Loki had a point. If he was in Loki's position he probably wouldn't be happy about some weird magical slave collar either.

Wait, magic.

"Oh fuck, we're gonna have to see Strange aren't we?" He asked outloud, groaning.

"Yes!" Peter shouted, overjoyed at the idea.

"…I suppose, yes." Loki said, sighing. "As annoying as he is, he is likely our best hope."

"It's alright Mr. Loki, I won't let him chop your head off." Peter said, beaming at Loki who just sighed again.

Bruce and Steve stayed back in the Asgardian town to get some readings on the possible causes of the illness, as well as doing check ups on a few of the people showing the worst symptoms, to see what they could learn. The others travelled again, leaving in the quinjet and going to the small antique shop that Loki knew lead to Strange's sanctum. The wards to keep it hidden were good, and very old, so getting in was a struggle and made him feel ungodly tired.

"Strange!" Tony called out. "Straaaange!"

"Stark? What do you want? And, how did you get in here?" Strange asked, stepping into the room from a hallway that really looked like it didn't lead anywhere. "Why are there so any of yo- why did you bring _him_ here?"

Loki nodded at Strange, smirking.

"Technically he brought us here. We came toooo…ugh, ask for some help."

Loki shimmered again, revealing the metal collar.

"…How did you come upon that?" Strange asked, walking over quickly so he could inspect the metal band.

"By accident, hunting down a member of our council. They're incredibly annoying to get rid of, apparently." Loki said, stopping himself from stepping back from Strange's hands. The man at least had the decency not to make any comments as he ran his hands over the metal, letting it heat up gently from his energy, before letting go and stepping back. He was frowning; frowning wasn't good.

"It is…strange; it doesn't seem to have any true magic, simply wards layered upon one another. I have no way to remove it, not without it taking years."

They all sighed; Clint swore under his breath and Tony groaned loudly.

"…There, is a possibility of someone who would be able to help-"

"Who?" Tony asked, interrupting the man. "Oh, sorry."

"…I will open a portal for you, to where you will find them. Their names are Isabelle and Caleb. Please don't ask me to help again, not if they're involved, I really don't like them that much." Strange said, giving a tired sigh. A portal opened behind them, casting a bright orange light across the room. Peter leapt through without a second thought, so the others followed, and stepped out into a small town in the English countryside. They were simply in a street, suddenly standing in the open, deserted cobble street.

"My dears!" A lady called out; her accent was almost definitely French, so Tony was really confused about where they were. "Are you alright? You look lost." An older woman approached them; she was a little shorter than Clint, with curly white hair, wearing a neat blue cardigan and a white skirt.

"We're look for…Isabelle and Caleb. Not much help-"

"Ah, yes! Come, follow me, I am dropping their groceries off."

"Oh no we don't wanna be a nuisan-" Tony was cut off the lady laughing.

"It's no nuisance dear! Come, come, they are waiting for their lunch." She said, walking down the street. They shrugged and followed after the woman. Peter practically hopped beside her, asking question after question about the little town. Loki rolled his eyes; he'd kept himself invisible, to avoid startling anybody they ran into on their journey, which had been a blessing seeing as how this woman seemed determined to help them.

"Here we are!" She said, gesturing towards a small cottage at the end of the street. After the cottage, the road continued on out of the small town, leading off into the countryside. The cottage wasn't large and it could do with some repairs on the fence and roof, but it was pretty cute. It had a bright green garden out front, full of different flowers and a small tree of some sort, which seemed to be covered in fruit.

"It's…" Tony was cut off by Clint.

"It's adorable."

"Yeah, that."

"In through the gate dear." The woman said to Peter, who had run ahead of the group and thrown the gate open, stepping into the yard. He stopped almost immediately, stepping backwards out of the gate then walking forward ahead, as if confused by something. Bruce was after Peter, followed by everyone else, Tony walking in last. The woman chuckled at them as they all stood on the front lawn, staring around the the garden. Everything seemed to be covered in a purple sheen; the flowers all looked larger and wilder, the grass seemed softer and greener.

Small birds darted between the flowers, that hadn't been there a moment ago. Strange little insects jumped about, unbothered by the new comers. There was a weird humming in the air, which was covered by Tony shouting suddenly, having see who was watching them.

Three cats were sitting on the little verandah outside the house, staring at the group with beady eyes. One was white, one grey and the last one black. Each one staring at the group, sitting on various plant pots and overturned buckets. The grey one moved first, letting out a small meow before darting over to the elderly woman and moving to rub at her legs. The small cat ran forward, darting straight _through_ her leg, which shimmered as the small creature moved through it.

"….Um." Tony said to himself, gawking as the woman heading towards the house and opened the font door, letting the cats head inside before her.

"Come along dears, I believe Caleb is in the lounge." She said, waiting for them to follow her inside so she could close the door.

"That I am! Come in, have you got us lunch?" A male voice called back, laughing at something they couldn't see.

"I have Caleb, mind your manners."

"I have great manners!" The man yelled out again. They stepped into a lounge that seemed as big as the entire cottage had looked. There was a man standing on a small ladder, trying to reach a box on top of some sort of bookshelf built into the wall.

"Caleb, have you lost something?" The woman asked, setting her paper grocery bags onto a table nearby. Peter noticed that the stack of stuff already on the table seemed to move itself to the side, to make room for the bags.

"I haven't! It's all up here, I just can't reach it!" He said, then turned his head slightly, noticing the group. "Oh my, who have you brought home with you? My, what beautiful guests you've brought."


	61. Chapter 61 - Always Her

Chapter 61

 _It's Always Her, Isn't It?_

 _ **What?! I'm working on this again?! I actually wrote a bunch of stuff like two months ago and then never touched it again! Until now!**_

"How long can you stay, Pete?" Ned asked from behind the pile of books he was carrying.

"A few hours, I don't have any plans for this afternoon." Peter answered with a grin as he opened the door to the school's chemistry lab. "Besides this, I mean."

Peter felt the tingle run up the back of his neck as soon as he had shut the door to the room and he locked the door without thinking. He'd let Ned walk in first, so his friend could put down the books he was carrying. He noticed the smear of blood on one of the benches before he looked at Ned. Ned was facing Peter and was talking but Peter couldn't hear anything his friend was saying. He had zoned out, staring at the person who was in the room with them. She was in the back corner of the room, hunched back on herself and leaning into the corner of the walls and was watching them carefully. She looked more frazzled than the last time he had seen her but her hair was short and combed back, the same as always. She was wearing a loose black singlet with neat dark pants but Peter could see something like a blazer on the ground.

"-eter?"

"Ned, can you come here a second?" Peter asked. "Like, behind me?"

"What's wrong-" Ned had seen her now and quickly stepped back so he was behind Peter.

The smell of blood was strong, so Peter knew she was injured or had been near someone that was injured.

"Good to see ya, kid." She said with a smirk. "You too, friend of the kid."

"What are you doing?" Peter asked. "You're-"

"In a fucking high school, I am very aware." Her voice dropped into a hiss and clutched her side, shutting her eyes. "You know, I much prefer it when I'm not the one getting shot."

"You got shot?!"

"...No. Forget I said anything."

"Peter, who-" Ned began but was interrupted by a banging at the door.

"Parker!" Flash shouted from the other side of the door. "Open the door! I know you're in there!"

"Oh for-" Peter grumbled and tried to ignore the banging. "Ned, is that first aid kit in here still?"

Ned rushed off to the cupboard near the eye washing station and rummage through it while Peter dragged a chair over to her.

"You guys have a first aid kit?"

"It's a chemistry lab, of course we have a first aid kit." Peter said, giving Ned a thanks when his friend handed him the red plastic bag from the cupboard. "Sit in the chair."

She did as she was told with a smirk and a perked eyebrow but didn't say anything as Peter opened the first aid kit and began to pull out what might be useful.

"Uhh…are you okay to… your shirt's in the way." Peter said, trying not to think about how red his face must be going.

"Oh, sure thing kid." She said, adjusting herself so the injured side was facing Peter, pulling her shirt up out of the way as she did. "Who's banging at the door?"

"Flash." Ned said as Peter said "No one."

"Those answers aren't the same." She said. "It's obviously someone, so I'm taking your friend's answer as the right one."

"It's nothing." Peter said, focused on cleaning the wound as best he could. "Why'd you get shot?"

"You know, work. Things happen. So who's at the door?"

"Peter, what the hell?" Ned whispered at his friend, knowing his hearing would be more than strong enough to hear what he was saying.

"She…knows Mister Stark, that's all." Peter said.

"Good answer kid." She said before letting out a hiss when Peter pressed a cloth against the wound.

"Did you dig it out?" He asked.

"Well, yes."

"Parker!" The voice came from outside the door again.

"I'd like an explanation." She said, leaning closer to Peter despite the pain in her side. "Now, kid."

"He doesn't like us." Ned said. "He…well, he doesn't like Peter more…"

"…I'm sorry but are you trying to tell me that some kid is bullying the intern of Tony Stark?"

"…Ned, what the hell dude?" Peter asked with a resigned sigh. "Yeah, yeah it's very funny."

She didn't say anything else while Peter finished what he could do to help with the wound, which wasn't much. She needed to see a doctor. An actual medical doctor, preferably.

"Try not to…you know, get shot again." Peter said once he had finished cleaning up the mess and put the first aid kit away. He turned around as she threw something at him, thankfully meaning he wouldn't have to explain why he was able to catch it so easily. The spider sense could be helpful but difficult to explain. He was holding what looked like an earpiece.

"What-"

"New beacon." She said, pulling her shirt back into place. "Acts like the other one but can be used to communicate as well, rather than just a marker of where he we need to go."

"…Oh."

"Thanks for the help kid. I'll leave you both to it." She said, darting to the door and shooting them both a grin before disappearing into the hallways of the school. Flash was gone, tired of waiting for Peter and Ned to let him into the room. He wouldn't let them forget it, which they knew. Peter shoved the ear piece into his pocket and as the days went, forgot about it completely. It had ended up in one of his jackets, which May borrowed later in the week to go to a training day in the city. She was hiding in one of the supply rooms after a group of men had entered the building, threatening them with guns, each of them wearing a gas mask. May had been able to duck away but was found by more of the men, who told her to get as much breathing gear as she could, since they'd need it eventually.

She was frantic in trying to get the ear piece Tony had given her weeks ago out of the pocket, where she had put it that morning. She always kept it on herself, since she never knew what could happen anymore. Finally she fished it out and pressed it into her ear, speaking low so no one would find her in the room.

"Tony? Mister Stark?" She whispered. "Are you there?"

There was nothing until a voice she didn't recognise answered.

"You've got poor timing." A woman's voice snapped, irritated. "I'm busy."

"I-Im sorry I don't…this is supposed to reach Mister Stark-"

"…Wait, Stark? Who are- why are you calling on this? Where did you get it?"

"M-my nephews jacket-"

"Your nephew? Who are you?"

"M-May Parker, please we need-"

"Parker? As in Peter Parker?"

"Yes."

The silence returned but there was the faint sound of someone breathing on the other end of the call, then the sound of something smashing.

"God dammit! So Peter Parker your nephew then? Fine, tell me what's happening."

"I-I'm at a training session in the city…I'm a nurse. These men just piled in, they're all wearing gas masks and have weapons…they're setting up…canisters of some sort. I was told to get breathing supplies but we haven't got much here. It's only a training centre!"

"…You're not far." The woman said with a sigh. "Fine, fine. I can notify his team…and…dammit I'll get there soon."

"What should we do?"

"Keep them happy, whatever they want, give to them. Within reason of course. Figure out the layout of the building best you can, see if you can figure out the closest emergency exits in case there's a chance to get out." There was movement on the other end of the line.. "What kind of gas masks?"

"I— don't know. I guess like what you'd see in movies? Big, bulky, like something from a war film."

"Gotcha, won't be long." There was a pause. "You any good with gunshot wounds?"

"Y-yes. Why-"

"Workplace hazards. I won't be long."

The call went dead so May gathered what few breathing supplies she could before returning to the conference room they had been gathered in. The gear was taken from her the second she was back in the room, thrown into a cupboard that was being watched by two of the men. May returned to her seat between two of the other nurses and waited.

"Stark." The voice rang out in the suit. Tony was flying back towards the Tower, ready to rest after a mission that had gone incredibly wrong.

"…I know that voice." Tony said with a sigh. "The hell do you want?"

"Can you track where I am from this call?"

"If I wanted to, yes."

"Good." Glass smashing in the background and a groan of pain. "Do you know a lady called May Parker-"

"Do not go anywhere the fuck near May Parker." He growled.

"Motherfuck- Her training day has been ambushed by a group of armed men wearing gas masks, they've bene setting canisters up in the building where she is. Called me by accident."

"…How the hell did-"

"I will explain that later!" She hissed.

"Fine, where's the building?"

"I'm on top of it, about to go in. Thought I'd notify your team in case of you know, it probably being HYDRA. It seems to always be HYDRA." She said, grinning to herself as she dropped in through the skylight she had just smashed open.

"…Why do you keep making those sounds?"

"Because I don't have super soldier healing. I'll keep the beacon on my person, track my location with that if you can. See ya soon, Stark."

The call died and Tony moved, shooting the suit forward and heading to the direction on his HUD. Friday contacted the team who were at the tower and everyone moved into action, suiting up and heading to the jet.

"We're on route Iron Man." Steve told his team mate through the jet's communication system. "We're close, no more than three minutes away at this speed."

"Good, I'm almost there now. I was on my way back when I…got the call."

"Who contacted you?"

"Err…May Parker, indirectly."

"Parker? Peter's Aunt? God, is she okay?"

"I don't know!"

"…Wait, what do you by indirectly?"

"It was that crazy poison lady! Again!"

Tony could hear Clint groan in the background.

"I hear ya, bird boy. I can see you guys approaching, talk to you in a moment."

The jet hovered overhead so that the team could sit and join Tony on the roof. Natasha was careful to set the jet to auto-pilot so that it would circle overhead in case of there being a need for immediate departure.

"What's the situation?" Steve asked once the jet had gone.

"Armed men with cannisters have set up inside. May somehow contacted The Doctor with the ear piece we gave her so The Doctor contacted me."

"Somehow?" Natasha asked with a raised eyebrow. "Nothing just 'somehow' happens with The Doctor, there's something else happening here."

"…I figured that." Tony said with a groan. "There's a broken skylight so safe to say she's already inside. We can get a rough pin point of her location with whatever she was using to contact me."

The team entered, both spies first so they could get a scope of the entry point before telling the others to follow. Steve took the lead once inside, the team falling into a comfortable order behind him with Bucky at the rear of the group.

"There's blood on the wall." Natasha said, staring at the smear they'd been walking past. "Recent."

"…She sounded weird on the call." Tony said. "Said she didn't have super soldier healing. She's gotta be hurt."

"It's not like her to go into something like this with an injury, she likes herself too much. Not one to stick her neck out for others." Clint said. "Something's wrong."

The team moved, carefully exploring the floor, while The Doctor was already on the floor below them, moving quickly towards noises she could hear down a hallway.


	62. Chapter 62 - Never Should Have Tried

Chapter 62

 _Never Should Have Tried To Help_

Three men were standing along the walls of the room, weapons aimed at the group of nurses they had kept cornered since their arrival. One had already been sent to retrieve what few pieces of oxygen gear was in the building, which was now in a closet off to the side, locked away from the nurses. Each armed person was wearing a bulky gas mask, like something May had seen in the war movies she used to watch with Ben.

There was a knock at the door and the men immediately shifted their weapons to aim at it. One moved slowly and waited a few moments before pulling the door open, expecting one of their own team to be on the other side. He was greeted by a woman with short hair, wearing a well tailored blazer and matching slacks. She moved immediately, pushing one arm forward and driving some sort of needle into the first bit of unarmed body she could see, which was the forearm of the masked man. It didn't take long for him to drop to the ground, gurgling behind the mask. Two darts were fired from the strange black gun she was holding in her other hand. The darts sunk into the forearms of the other two men in the room. They dropped as well, gurgling and twitching on the ground like the first man was doing. The Doctor stepped over the still twitching body of the first man and moved into the room.

"May Parker." She said to the group. "Which one of you is that?"

May stepped forward from the group slowly, shaking off the hands of her coworkers that tried to pull her back into the safety of the huddle.

"I-I am."

"Usually people take longer to give themselves up." The Doctor said. "Makes this a lot easier."

"Makes what easier? Who are you?" Someone in the group asked.

"Your ticket to getting the fuck out of here." She said with a lopsided grin. "Sound good?"

The group nodded but stayed silent.

"Good." She said. "Stark is on his way, presumably followed by the rest of his trail mix of a team. You follow their lead, don't try and fight any baddies yourselves and you should get out alive. Easy?"

More nodding.

"Good. Once you're out, you do not mention that I was here. Not to the avengers, not to the media, not to your own fucking families. Easy?"

More nodding, more confused this time.

"Good. Stay put and they'll find you." She said with a sharp nod. "I'm going to go investigate these canisters, they've caught my attention. Good luck to you all, I guess."

She gave the stunned group a quick wave as she turned and left the room. There was a loud bang and a click from the door behind her, as someone ran forward to close and lock it.

"Least one of them is smart." She muttered and continued on to the next floor down.

There was very obviously a thin layer of red smoke up against the ceiling of this floor, which didn't give her high hopes of getting out of here quickly. She headed down the hallway, towards an open doorway where she could hear talking. Two men were standing over another figure that was on the ground. They were on hands and knees, coughing loudly and struggling to breathe.

"It has worked then." One of the standing men said. "This is good."

"The orders said we did not need to bring anyone back. Perhaps, in this case, it would be allowed?"

"I would imagine so, with great reward intact. After all, it would provide give the team many opportunities for testing."

She stepped into the room, unnoticed by the men who were too busy staring at the suited figure while they spoke to one another. She looked at the suit and blinked in realisation once she recognised which hero the suit belonged to. She fired two darts quickly, not wanting to alert either man. They dropped quickly and convulsed on the ground much like the others had.

"So, this is Spiderman, is it?" She asked as she walked over to the figure on the ground and stood near their head. She knew they weren't wearing a mask, she could see hair, but it wasn't until she was standing there that she could properly see their face.

She stared at the person on the floor and the tear-eyed face of Peter Parker stared back.

"You." She said. "You?!"

"I…I.." Peter choked out, tears collecting in thin streams on his cheeks. "Can't…"

"Breathe?" She asked and groaned when he nodded weakly in response. "God fucking…stay there."

She moved quickly, returning to the hallway and finding the storage closet she had seen earlier on her way through the floor. Beneath the metal plate that read Cleaners Storage - Staff Only was a printed sign that read Lost and Found - Give to Receptionist Every Saturday. Since it was Friday, she hoped that there was something in the closet still. Luckily there was a plastic laundry hamper full of clothes that she was able to dig through and find a shirt and a loose set of track pants. Why there were pants in a lost and found, she didn't ask.

Peter was exactly where she had left him only moments ago.

"Right kid, you take these and…struggle your way out of that suit and into these clothes." She threw the clothes down to him and saw him reaching for his mask nearby. "Kid, it's not going to help if it's covered in whatever this gas is. Now change, I'm not helping you undress because you're like fourteen years old and Tony Stark has decided he gives a shit about you."

She explored the room and once satisfied no-one else was in there with them, she returned to Peter. He had managed to pull the new clothes on. She threw a backpack she had found in another closet at him, to put the suit and mask in.

"There now you just look like you were here to see your Aunt." She said. "Who, by the way, somehow called me on a beacon earlier today."

"M-my…jacket…"

"You're so smart it hurts, honestly." She said, leaning down and grabbing the kid by the shoulders so she could lift him up to his feet. Luckily he didn't weigh much and it was easy to move him near one of the huge panes of glass that served as windows on the building. The whole front of the place must be glass panes, she figured, hoping that there weren't many people below when she kicked at the pane. It took two strikes with her foot for the glass to shatter completely and fall away. Fresh air poured in through the new opening and Peter leaned into it and breathed in.

"I am also very smart." She said, pleased. "Sometimes."

"O-only sometimes?" Peter asked weakly.

"Well I did end up in a high school not long ago."

"O-oh…right-" Peter's head turn to the side suddenly. "Can…you hear that?"

"I can't hear anything over the constant throbbing in my head from this whole situation. What is it?"

Peter listened for a moment to be sure.

"Something's…beeping. It sounds like-"

"If there is a bomb in this room I'm going to be so fucking upset." She said with a scowl.

Glancing out of the window, she could see Captain America on the sidewalk with a crowd of nurses around him. May Parker was in the mix, out of the building and apparently safe and sound.

"So I've noticed that while you're struggling to breathe, I'm perfectly okay." She said. "Any idea-"

"Targets…super solider…enhanced." Peter choked out. "They-they were talking…"

"Fuck." She muttered. "Alright, up you get."

Peter tried to be helpful in getting himself off the floor but his lungs were burning and his muscles hurt, so she did most of the work in getting him to his feet. She moved them to the window and looked out, checking to see who was down below. The nurses had been moved away and she could see Captain America and Bucky Barnes below, the closest two members of the team to the building. Bucky Barnes moved a hand to his ear and after a moment, nudged Captain America's shoulder and pointed up at the two of them in the window.

"Someone can see us then." She said.

"Probably…Clint." Peter said. It was starting to hurt less to talk but his body still felt hot and sluggish. "The beeping…it's…faster."

She closed her eyes and tightened her grip on Peter's shoulder. When she opened her eyes, Captain America and Bucky Barnes were both staring at her.

"Sorry, kid." She said and pushed.

Peter's neck tingled at the words but he couldn't do anything when she shoved him forward and his feet left the ground.

"Peter!" A voice called out, but not from either of the men. May Parker had apparently seen them. Both men moved but it was Bucky who caught Peter before he hit the sidewalk. When the two super solider looked back at the building, she was already gone from view.

"We all saw that." Clint's voice came over their ear pieces. "Right?"

"Quinjet is parked on a rooftop nearby. Blue office building with a bird sign out front, get the kid up here." Natasha said over the ear pieces. The men moved quickly and were lucky that Natasha hadn't landed very far away at all. Tony was waiting for them out of the roof top, out of the suit.

"What the fuck happened to him?!" He shouted when the two men arrived at jet with a limp Peter. "She-"

"We'll go." Steve said and Bucky nodded, handing the unconscious Peter to Tony. "Stay with the kid."

"But-"

"Be back soon!" Bucky called back as they turned and moved for the fire escape they had just come up, when the building Pete had just been in exploded. The top floors exploded, glass shattering outwards and red smoke beginning to pour out into the air. Something else came through one of the windows, smashing through the glass on its way out and landing on a car down below. A person was laying on the hood of a car, unmoving.


	63. Chapter 63

**Chapter 63  
**

She could hear metal around her as she moved. Bent metal groaned under her movement as she adjusted her arms and leant back on her elbows so she could look up at the building above. Red gas was now pouring from the building; it was a nice colour, she was a little annoyed she hadn't made it.

"What the hell?!" A voice came from nearby. "You've ruined my car!"

She glanced to the side that she heard the voice come from and made a noise of disgust when she felt something warm and wet get stuck in her eyelashes. She must have a facial injury; awesome.

"Well…great." She muttered and moved slowly, to get her body to a sitting position. "Where- oh."

She had landed on a car and dented the hood but somehow, after doing this, she was still alive and conscious.

"What are they doing?" The voice asked. "What are you losers doing!? Hey!"

"Get down!" Another voice said.

She looked behind her and could see three people, who looked like teenagers huddled behind the car, ducking out of view.

"I- oh." She said. "Hey, Peter's friend."

"Hi." Ned said quietly.

"Who's that?" She asked nodding towards a girl with incredibly curly hair. The girl was staring at her and The Doctor wondered if the curly haired teenager would try to take a shot at her with her fists. She looked like she wanted to. "Friend of yours?"

"Uhh…y-yeah…"

"What the hell are you two doing?" The other boy asked, frowning at the two teenagers who had joined him hear the car.

"We thought we'd come tell you to run because…of…that." The curly haired said and gestured off down the road, towards the direction that a lot of shouting was now coming from.

"Never mind, I'll chat to you later kids." She said with a smile. "How about all three of you get out of the street?"

Getting to her feet was possibly one of the worst things she'd ever done, in memory at least; her entire body felt bruised right down to the bones. She stayed on top of the car since she was pretty sure that trying to get to lower ground would stretch her muscles in a way she wasn't prepared for yet. Her foot slipped while trying to steady herself on the dented car hood and she dropped for a second, catching herself just barely and keeping herself on the car. That slip was fortunate for her as it meant that Captain America's shield flew over top of her rather than catching her in the back. She could feel the air and hear the whoosh as the shield flew over her from behind and continued on away from her towards where the Captain himself was standing besides Bucky Barnes on top of a rather tall truck further down the road.

The Doctor had been through hell and back a number of times in her line of work but there was something to be said about facing down against Captain America and The Winter Soldier. Even from a distance the two super solider were absolute towers of muscle. Both kitted out in state of the art suits which were likely the work of Tony Stark, the man who created a flying suit of armour.

It was safe to say that this wasn't a fight she was equipped to win.

She reasoned that she didn't need to win, she just needed to not die before she could get away. So she turned and ignored the pain that was enveloping her entire body as she kicked off the car hood and leapt to another car, moving along that one and jumping to the road. She ran between the cars that were parked on the road, some full of people and some having been left when the drivers had run to safety. She could hear movement behind her, heavy footsteps on cars, and the noises followed after her at a distance that sounded much closer than she was happy with.

Gunshots rang out behind her as well as ahead of her. She ducked down between two lanes of cars and kept low for cover while she paused for a moment to catch her breath. She could hear the crashing of larger bodies moving through closely parked cars behind her. Down the lane that she was crouched in, she could see more people moving towards her, weapons raised. Great, Captain America and The Winter Soldier have been joined by SHIELD.

"Fine then." She muttered to herself. "Let's hope these work. No time for a test run like in the field."

The small cylindrical detonators were kept in a concealed pocket inside her blazer and were hopefully connected wirelessly to the matching cylindrical canisters that she fished out of another pocket and let roll about on the ground. A few rolled under the cars around her, while some stayed where she had crouched down. She gave a final sigh, ignoring the pain in her leg, and pulled herself up onto the closest car. The Captain and his friend were closer, only a few cars away but they came to a slow stop when they saw her emerge. She pocketed one of the detonators for a second to pull an odd bowl shaped oval out of a pocket, which made a clicking noise when she pressed against the sides with her thumb and pointer finger. A wing extended from each side and the mask easily slid onto her face, attaching over her ears and sitting snug against the skin.

"Gentlemen." She called out to them. "Can I ask you a question?"

"…I guess." Bucky said with a glance at Steve, who nodded.

"The average person can hold their breath for thirty to about forty-five seconds, depending on the situation."

Steve and Bucky remained still but kept themselves in position to move suddenly, depending on what happened.

"That's great but-" Bucky began.

"How long can you hold your breath for?" She asked, holding her arms out wide from her body, thumbs ready on the detonators.

"An explosion will take you out as well." Steve said but he was pretty sure she was aware of that already."

"No it won't, the gas might, if I was out here without a mask." Her eyes moved to Bucky and even with her mouth covered he could tell she was grinning at him. "Have to say, you looked much better with your mask."

"SHIELD might agree." Bucky said. "I don't."

"No? Well what about your team?" She taunted. "Surely you can't have convinced the entire group about your…regret? Denial? Everyone knows what The Winter Soldier did. I thought for sure SHIELD would've kept the mask on you, until they needed you, anyway. Masks only serve a few purposes, to control someone and to keep them quiet. I liked them for the second reason. Shame you haven't got it now, it might've come in handy."

There was no delay between her finishing speaking and her clicking the detonators. Bright yellow gas began to pour out from underneath the cars and on the road surface in thick clouds that quickly enveloped The Doctor, the car she was standing on, and the cars nearby. Both super soldiers took a step back at the cloud, unsure what they should do.

"Steve, get a move on getting civilians away. I'll try and follow." Bucky said before disappearing into the cloud of red gas. He could barely see a shape ahead of him, moving away through the gas cloud. Bucky had planned to give chase until he felt the affects of the gas but as time went on, nothing happened.

"I think we got tricked." Bucky said over his comms unit to the others. "The gas hasn't done anything to me."

"Scans are giving me just some colours and basic smoke bomb ingredients." Bruce said back. "Safe to inhale. It'll irritate a few people, of course, mostly those with asthma or similar respiratory issues but it won't cause any sort of horrific damage that I can see."

"Well that's good because I've lost-" Bucky caught sight of the shape darting away again. "Wait."

He followed the shape and suddenly found himself in an alleyway, free of the gas and could see her ahead, pulling herself up and over a low brick wall. He made it to the wall and looked over but all he could see was dirt below and a long drop to the ground.

"What a bitch." He grumbled and gave a final look before returning to the others in the jet. Hopefully the kid had woken up by now.


End file.
